The Dragon Emperor
by The Kishin Sesshomaru-Kurai
Summary: Set after the series. A new student comes to the School. Who is he? What's with his car? And what's with all the Dragons? Ignores the Barian World Arc, but that's why it's called fan fiction. Rated for language and possible themes.
1. Chapter 1

As the sun rose over Heartland City, Astral floated up next to Yuma's hammock. "Wake up, Yuma. It's time for school."

Screaming, Yuma tumbled onto the floor of his room, his face slamming into the floor. "Astral, what have I told you about waking me up like that?"

The spirit put a hand to his chin. "As I recall Yuma, you're the one who told me to wake you up in the morning." Floating under Yuma's hammock, he gestured to a smashed pile of circuits and plastic. "You had smashed your alarm clock one morning, and asked me to help wake you up."

Before he could snap at his spectral friend, Yuma noticed his non-alarm clock. "Oh no, I'm gunna be late!" As Astral 'stood' there, he watched as Yuma turned into a gale of flying clothes and school supplies. Charging out the door, the young duelist made sure to grab his deck and give his grandma a kiss goodbye.

After running several blocks at what Astral considered unnatural human speeds, the duo came to the Academy entrance. "Yuma, why is everyone gathered at the street like this? Is this some human tradition you never told me about?"

It seemed like the whole school had gathered around a weirdly straight path. "I don't know. It's almost as if everyone's waiting for a celebrity or something."

"A... celebrity? Tell me Yuma, what are... celebrities?" asked Astral.

"Celebrities are famous people that everyone admires, Astral."

The blue spirit hummed to himself in thought. "Observation: Humans admire other humans as idols and aspire to be like them."

"Hey Yuma! How's it going?" The familiar voice got Yuma's attention. Sure enough, his three friends came running over. "How's it going?" asked the only girl.

"Alright. Hey, why's everyone gathered out here, Tori?"

The larger boy laughed loudly. " Typical Yuma. Completely clueless about everything."

"Quite agreed, Bronk. In the end, Yuma never seems to know what's happening. It's actually quite humorous when one thinks about it," added the nerdy Caswell.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not even here you jerks!" yelled Yuma.

"If you must know Yuma, we're getting a new classmate. Nobody knows who it is, but we do know he's fairly important. In the end-"

"I've got a new opponent to compete against!" declared Yuma.

"Here he comes now!" called some random girl. Running over to the crowd, Yuma and his friends pushed their way through the crowd to the front. When they got there, a large limo pulled up to the crowd. The car was designed to look like a large white dragon on all fours with its wings down.

"A Blue-Eyes White Dragon limo? Who on Earth drives to school in one of those?" asked Tori. _What a weird vehicle, _she thought.

When it stopped, the chauffeur quickly got out to open the door. When it opened, a pair of black boots and school slacks stepped out. Reaching out of the doorway, the new student pulled himself out. His brown hair was kept short and curved towards his head (**A/N: It's Kaiba's haircut)**. He stood several inches taller than Yuma, but still looked shorter than Bronk. A pair of black sunglasses shined in the sunlight as they covered his eyes. His red school tie had a pin clipped to it in the shape of a dragon's silhouette.

Reaching back into his limo, he pulled out a black book bag and a silver briefcase. Slinging his backpack over his left shoulder, he gripped his case in his right hand. As he began walking down the improvised path, his driver promptly left. His path was blocked, however, by Shark and his lackeys.

Lowering his glasses, he stared at them with his hard brown eyes. "Is there something I can help you with?" demanded the teen.

The marine duelist stepped forward. "Yeah, there is," he replied as arrogantly as ever. "Something tells me you think pretty highly of yourself. So, I've decided to let you know, around here, I'm the big shot."

The new arrival simply raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"Well, obviously you need to learn how things work around here." Shark then pointed at the boy. "I challenge you to a duel!"

Taking off his glasses, he smiled. "Wow, I know I wanted to have a duel, but I never thought one would come the second I got here. Very well, I accept."

Setting down his bag, the new arrival opened up the briefcase and pulled out a what looked like a duel pad. "A duel disk?" said Caswell. "I didn't know those were still used!"

The device looked similar to the limo, in that it looked like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. With a blue flash, the mouth opened to reveal his deck, with one of the claws as graveyard slot. The wing unfurled to reveal three card panels. Jutting out, the front part of the wing revealed the last two panels.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a black Duel Gazer with a red lens. Sliding it over his eye, the device gave a quick red flash. Holding out his duel disk, he gave a confident smirk. "Alright punk, it's time to duel!"

The teen drew one card from his deck. "I'll go first." Looking down at his hand, he smirked. "I'll start by activating my spell card, Different Dimension Capsule! With this little card, I can select one card in my deck and remove it from play. In two turns, I can add it to my hand. Now, I summon my Maiden With Eyes of Blue!" Placing the monster card down, they watched as a delicate-looking woman with braided white hair appeared on all of their Duel Gazers.

"Hah!" laughed Shark. "How do you plan on beating me with a monster that has absolutely no attack points?"

The boy smirked. "Don't count my Maiden out just yet. You'd be surprised at what she can do. Now, I set two cards face down and end my turn." As he said that, the two facedowns appeared in front of him.

Drawing a card out of his deck, he scowled. _Crap, there's nothing in here that I can use._ "I'll start by summoning my Big Jaws!" The shark monster appeared in all its partially metallic glory. "Now Big Jaws, destroy that Maiden!" The large fish charged forward, metal horn and teeth shining bright.

"I don't think so, punk! I activate my Maiden's special ability! By switching her battle position, I can negate the attack and summon out of my deck, hand, or graveyard my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" As the Maiden crouched and blocked with her arms, a flash of light forced the shark away. When the light faded, an enormous Blue-Eyes White Dragon stood there.

Yuma was amazed at the stats on his Duel Gazer. "3000 Attack points? That is one awesome card!"

"I'll say. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon is the most powerful normal monster ever," explained Astral, with Caswell saying the exact same thing after him.

With the attack negated, the mystery duelist smirked. "And, if I am not mistaken, if Big Jaws attacks, it's banished at the end of your turn."

"Fine then, I end my turn," growled out Shark.

"So, it's my draw." Taking a card off of his deck, he smirked as he added it to his hand. "First, I activate one of my face-downs, Kunai with Chain!" The trap card raised up to show the chain weapon picture. "I equip it to my Maiden and give her an extra 500 attack points. Oh, and because a card effect targeted my Maiden, I can summon another Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Just like before, a blue glow announced the arrival of a second dragon.

"Now, I activate my spell card, Dragon Shrine!" the image of the dragon-like bones began glowing. "By using this spell card, I can send a dragon type monster from my deck to my graveyard. And if I choose a normal dragon, I can send a second dragon, free of charge. So that's what I'm doing!" As the crowd watched two dragon-shaped lights flew from his deck to his graveyard. "Now I use my Maiden's tuner ability to combine her with one of my Blue-Eyes!"

Pressing a button on his Duel Disk, she dissolved into a green ring of light. Centering around the dragon, two small rings flew up and down from the center to reveal eight glowing lights. "I synchro-summon, my Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon!" With a bright pillar of light, the large armor plated dragon materialized with a mighty roar.

Tori was confused, as was Yuma. "What's Synchro-summoning?" asked the green haired girl.

Caswell jumped to an explanation. "Synchro-summoning is when you use something called a tuner monster to summon a specific type of monster. Synchro-monsters can only be summoned when the total of the levels of the tuner and tributed monsters equals the Synchro-monster's level."

"Now, I use the spell, Monster Reborn! With this card, I bring back my Blue-Eyes!" The spell card glowed and shattered when a familiar dragon returned to the field. "Now, Azure-Eyes, attack his life points directly!" When the burst of bluish-white fire hit the water duelist, he braced himself as the dust around him went flying. "And with that, I end my turn," said the dragon duelist in a smug tone.

Growling, Shark drew for the second time in their duel. He was already down to 1500 life points. "Hey Astral, why do you think this new guy didn't finish him right then and there? He has those two dragons. Why not end it?"

"I may be wrong Yuma, but I believe this new student is toying with the one called Shark. Simply enjoying that he has Shark on the edge of defeat."

Shark growled again to himself. _Great, Skull Kraken. If only he had a spell card. Although, I could put it in defense mode with its ability._ "I summon my Skull Kraken. And I activate its ability to change it into defense mode."

"I don't think so! I use my trap card, Fiendish Chain. With this handy card, I can target one effect monster under your control and negate its abilities, not to mention keep it from attacking." Green chains rose out of the ground and chained the monster to the ground.

Growling in anger, Shark yelled at his opponent. "Fine, I end my turn then."

"Excellent. First off, I activate my Silver Dragon's ability and summon a dragon-type normal monster from my graveyard. And guess who I sent there with my Dragon Shrine?" As if in answer, a flash of light from his graveyard gave rise to a third Blue-Eyes. "Also, since it's been two turns, I add the card removed from play with my Capsule. So now, I use that very card! And it's Polymerization! So now, I fuse all three of my Blue-Eyes together to create, my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The three dragons were absorbed in a vortex. The two on the side were dissolved as the middle grew in size. As it finished growing, two more heads sprouted from either side, leaving a giant three-headed version of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon alongside the Azure-Eyed Silver Dragon.

"And now, I attack with my Ultimate Dragon. But first, I use the ability of my drawn card, Honest. By sending him to the graveyard from my hand, when a light monster under my control does damage, I can increase the damage it does by the monster it's battling's attack." The angel monster flew in front of the dragon and vanished as it glowed. "Now, Dragon. Destroy his Skull Kraken, and end this for him!"

Roaring, the giant monster fired three streams of blue fire; one at the chained monster and two at duelist. When the beams struck, Shark was sent flying from the impact as his life points hit zero.

The gathered crowd started cheering like lunatics as the mystery boy's duel disk folded itself up. Getting up with help from his goons, Shark looked at the boy in amazement. "Who are you? I've almost never lost. So who are you?"

The crowd of enthused students quieted down to hear his name. "Who am I? To be honest I'm both shocked and relieved that no one recognized me." Standing tall and proud, he spoke with definitive power. "My name is Arius Kaiba-Moto. I am the current CEO of KaibaCorp and as of today, I am your newest classmate." With that, the Kaiba boy strode through the crowd with the students parting ways so he could walk through. Soon after he passed, the students all started buzzing over their celebrity classmate.


	2. First Class

When Yuma and his friends arrived at their classroom, the buzz over the new student was still running strong. "Ugghh..." groaned Yuma. "What's the big deal about having that Kaiba kid here?"

Tori sighed as she shook her head at her friend. "Because Yuma. Not only is he the head of one of the world's most successful companies, but he's the descendant of the King of Games himself. Not to mention he's a Duel Monsters prodigy."

"Yeah, well-"

"Attention everybody," called Mr. Kay as he walked to the front of the room. "I have some exciting news for all of you. Our class is getting not one, but two new students. Please welcome Arius Kaiba and Tea Wheeler."

As he made his announcement, the two students walked in. The first was the Arius, looking somewhat bored as he walked in with his duel disk still on. Behind him was a girl with short dirty blonde hair who practically skipped into the room. "Would you two care to say something to the class about yourselves?"

Arius sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Hi, you all probably know about me because of my duel out front after I arrived. I'm the current heir and head of the Kaiba family and KaibaCorp. I am enrolling here because I moved here from Domino City for a change scenery."

The girl, Tea, smiled brightly. "And I'm obviously Tea Wheeler! I'm Arius' cousin and moved here with him. I work as a model for Arius' older sister." Flashing a lovely smile, several guys felt their hearts practically throb for the new girl.

"Well, you two are in luck. The only two empty seats are right next to each other!" As the two walked to their seats, the former Number holder beamed in joy. "As a couple of dueling prodigies, I'm sure you two will do just fine in my class."

With the two seated, Mr. Kay turned to the screen and pulled up the lesson title: Duel Monsters Theory:Monster Card Types.

"So, who can name the types of Monster Cards?" Right off the bat, three hands flew up. Their owners being Caswell, Arius, and Tea. Smiling at his enthusiasm, the teacher called on Arius. "Yes, Arius?"

"Normal, Effect, Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz," stated the teen with a matter-of-fact tone.

The teacher seemed surprised. "Well, yes. But I had no idea anybody knew about Ritual, Fusion, and Synchro. It seems you're ahead of some of the others." He was impressed at his newest student's prior knowledge. "So, would you care to come up to the front and explain how those three are summoned?"

Sighing to himself, the Kaiba heir stood up and walked from his third row seat to the front of the classroom. Taking a quick look at computer and typing a few things into the keyboard, he turned to the screen as the image of a blue monster card and a spell card appeared on screen. "Ritual monsters are powerful monsters who need specific spell cards to summon them. To summon one, both monster and spell need to be in your hand." Tapping on the screen, the spell appeared on a simulated duel board with two level 4 monsters on its side. "Using the spell, you tribute enough monsters to equal or exceed the level of the monster that corresponds with the spell card."

As he explained, the two level four monsters were tributed and let a level eight monster appeared on the field. "This card is Demise, King of Armageddon. He's a level eight monster. So, in this circumstance, Demise would be summoned to the field." Looking over at the teacher, he raised an eyebrow. "May I sit down, Mr. Kay?"

The man smiled at his new student. "Certainly. I'll take it from here, you just take your seat." When Arius sat down, he noticed one boy staring at him. It was the other boy that had raised his hand.

As the teacher went on to explain fusion monsters and synchro-summoning, Arius let his mind wander as he sat there. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he looked to his left at his cousin. "We get to hit the duel court after this," whispered Tea. "You want to see how many people try challenging you?"

The boy smirked. "Sure, cuz."

As Mr. Kay was finishing up on Synchro-monsters, the bell rang to signal the end of class. Bolting out of class, the cousins wandered along until they arrived at the Duel Yard. Putting on their Duel Gazers, Arius his black dragon gazer and Tea a bird themed gazer, the two were amazed at all the duels going on around them. One stood out to him. The duel involved that red-haired boy that sat in front of him in Kay's class.

"Hey, Mr. Kaiba?" asked a meek voice. Looking around, he realized he had amassed a crowd students. A blonde girl around his age stepped forward. "Can I have your autograph?"

"Me too!"

"And me."

Soon enough the whole crowd had forced Tea away from her cousin, and into a crowd of girls wanting fashion tips. Sighing, she and her cousin shared a thought. _Story of our lives._

With Yuma and co.

"Man, why can I only win when numbers are involved?" groaned Yuma. He then turned on Astral. "And how come you never let me use my Number cards when I'm in a regular duel?!" demanded the irate duelist.

"Because Yuma," explained the spirit, "it would be unfair to the other duelist to have to face off against cards he has no chance of beating."

"Yuma, stop talking to your invisible duelist friend and get over here!" demanded Tori. "We're talking about those new kids. I can't help but feel sorry for them."

"Why would you feel bad for those two?" asked Bronk. "Those two have just about anything they want, not to mention they're Duel Monsters prodigies. What's there to be sad for?"

"Bronk, since you're not a girl, let me explain something to you," said Tori as she shook her head. "Those two are celebrities since birth. They're the children of famous families, not to mention Tea is a model. That starts at a young age. And Arius' friends are all probably from other families as a way to strengthen ties between their families." She then looked over at the surrounded teens. "And if they go out in public, **that** probably happens to them," she pointed over at them getting swarmed by fans.

"Well then let's go get them to be our friends!" shouted Yuma as he went charging towards the crowd around Arius. "Alright, move it! Outta the way! Make room!" Finally getting to Arius, he grabbed the rich kid by the collar of his shirt. Charging through the crowd, he made his way to the entrenched model. Grabbing her hand, Yuma brought her and her cousin out of the crowds and over to his group of friends.

"Arius, Tea, let me introduce you to me and my friends." Letting go of the rich children, he pointed a thumb at himself. "I'm Yuma Tsukomo, and I'm gunna be the number one duelist in the world."

Sighing at her friend's brashness, Tori went up to the cousins. "I'm Tori Meadows, Yuma's oldest friend. It's wonderful to meet the two of you. I hope we can be good friends."

"I'm Caswell, class genius and as of today, you are my new rival, Arius. Nobody outshines me in the classroom and not become my rival." Despite his open declaration of war, Caswell still gave the young CEO a warm smile and friendly hand shake.

The large boy smiled at the two heirs. "And I'm Bronk, the second smartest guy in our little group. Pleased to meetcha!" he beamed as he vigorously shook their hands.

"Well, you five already-"

"Five? Arius, there are only four people here," said Tea in a confused tone.

"No, there's five. I'm counting this blue floating guy right here." Walking over, Arius pointed to where Astral was floating in amazement. "See? He's just floating right here."

"Arius there's abso-"

"You can see Astral too? How?!" demanded Yuma.

"What do you mean, how can I see him? He's right here."

"What Yuma is trying to say is, nobody else can see me. So, it's rather amazing that you can see me," explained the spirit.

"Oh. Well, this is... Odd." Just then, the bell rang, telling them to go to their next class. "Crap! I've gotta go! Tea let's go! We've got swim class." Grabbing his cousin's hand, he started running.

"Hey wait!" shouted Tori. "We've got that class too. We'll go with you!"

-After School-

"Well, this was certainly one of my more interesting days at school," commented Arius as their group walked out the front entrance of the school. "Made four friends already, beat some punk in a duel without trying, and discovered I can see a magical spirit of sorts while only one other person can too." Smiling, Arius looked at his new friends. "I'd say I've had a pretty great day. I don't think anything could ruin my mood."

"I think I do," said Tea. Pointing to the street, she got them to notice an angry looking old man with grey hair and a casual suit. "Think he can do it?"

"Oh no. You know there's trouble when my Grandpa shows up."

"Why?" asked Tori.

"Arius Moto-Kaiba, you have some explaining to do young man," said the man as he stormed towards the group.

"Hey... Grandpa."

"Don't give me that young man. I asked your brothers, and they told me you didn't bother with the two simple tasks I gave you. One: building a personal deck. NOT modifying a deck you made based on your great-grandfather Seto's deck," stated the older man while giving his grandson an angry look. "Second, you never even attempted the puzzle I gave you. The puzzle every member of our family should attempt at some point."

"Okay Grandpa, I'll get on it when we get back home. Now," Arius started pushing his grandfather towards the waiting limo, a standard black one this time. "Let's go home. You're making me look bad in front of my new friends." Looking over his shoulder real quick, he called over to the group of five-technically six- friends. "I'll see you guys tomorrow! Bye!" As the others waved bye to him, the black limo drove off into traffic.

-At the Kaiba family Heartland Estate-

Arius sat at his desk, several organized books of cards in front of him and several crumbled papers with deck lists on them. "*sigh* Why did the twins have to rat me out? It's not my fault I can't think of a unique strategy! And as for the puzzle, nobody in our family has completed that damn thing since Yugi Moto's days!" Sighing, he heard a distinct knocking on his door. A three knock pattern, and only two people did that. "What is it you brats?"

"Can we come in, Arius?" The addressed teen sighed to himself. He knew they only called him by his first name when they felt really bad about something.

"Fine."

Opening the door, his brown haired brothers entered his room rather hesitantly, a couple of cards in one of their hands. "We heard about the chewing out Grandpa gave you, and wanted to make it up to you," said Seto, the brown-eyed twin.

His blue-eyed opposite, Noah, stepped forward and held out the cards he'd been holding. "We figured you were still struggling with your deck, so we got you these."

Accepting the cards, Arius began looking through what his younger siblings gave him. _Let's see. Lightpulsar Dragon, Darkflare Dragon, Chaos Sorcerer, Eclipse Wyvern, Light and Darkness Dragon, and Chaos Zone._ He looked up at his brothers. "And you brought me these because...?" he said as he rolled his hand on the 'because'.

"Well, we know you have an interest in dragons, as well as light and dark monsters," said Seto.

Noah, picked up for his brother. "So we got you these cards to help you out. We figured you could make a pretty sweet Chaos Deck."

The older sibling put his hand on his chin in thought. Making a 'hmm' in thought, he looked at his sometimes annoying siblings. "Alright. I'll let you two off the hook, this time for helping me out with my deck. Also, just know that even though you helped me out and I'm letting you off the hook, I won't let you off so easily next time something of this sort happens." Placing the cards on his desk, he stood up out of his cushioned swivel chair. "Now, get out of my room so I can work. I still need to build this deck and start on attempting the puzzle."

Smiling, the twins quickly retreated from his room. Cheering as they ran off. Sighing at his siblings, Arius quickly got to work on his deck. After about 20 minutes, he set the now complete Chaos dragon deck in the spare deck case on his belt.

Turning back to the desk, he emptied out the ancient Egyptian box. He sighed to himself as he picked up the piece tied to a cord. As he sifted through the parts, he picked one out at random. Putting it to the base, he was amazed to find it fit perfectly. "Huh," he said. "That was fairly easy. But it's probably just beginner's luck."

Much to his amazement, it kept working. Each piece he picked up fit perfectly with what he already put there. Soon enough, he was on the last piece. Sliding the eye-adorned shape into place, he felt as though the puzzle in his hands just filled him with energy. It was as though it was thanking him and asking to be worn. Yawning, the boy noticed his alarm clock read 10:00 P.M. Walking over to his bed, he got into his pajamas and set the inverted pyramid on his nightstand. Laying down, he turned off the light and quickly felt himself surrender to sleep.

-Dream World-

_Opening his eyes, Arius found himself at a duel panel. He had no monsters, and almost no life points. On the other side of the field, Seto Kaiba laughed as his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons loomed over head. "Alright Yugi," he said, "hurry up and draw your last pathetic card so I can end this!"_

_Looking down at his hand when he drew, Arius smirked. "My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba. But it does contain, the unstoppable Exodia!" The large Egyptian titan began appearing on the field, arms first, then head, and finally legs exiting the large green arcane circle. "I've gathered all five special cards, all five pieces of the puzzle!"_

_"No, it's not possible. No one's ever been able to summon him!"_

_The teen smirked. "Now, Exodia, OBLITERATE!" The large titan sent a huge blast of energy towards the dragons and destroyed all three of them._

_"NOOOOOOO!"_

_-_Real World-

Arius awoke with a start. "Was that Seto Kaiba himself? And, why was I Yugi?" Shaking his head, Arius climbed out of bed and started getting ready. After putting on his school uniform and clipping on his deck belt, he picked up the Millenium Puzzle. "Should I...?" he asked himself. Making up his mind, he put the cord around his neck and looked in the mirror. "Huh. Feels natural."

Grabbing his bags, he started walking through the house to the dining room. His grandfather was at one end of the long table, choosing to sit away from his grandchildren in the morning as he usually did. At the end closest to him, a maid was placing an egg breakfast at his seat as he entered the room. On his seat's right, the twins were in the black and gold-trimmed blazers that indicated they were students at the junior-high version of Arius' school. They were making last minute checks on their homework. "Morning bro." said the busy twins.

"Hey you two." The boy looked to his left as he sat down. He sighed as he dug into his breakfast. "It's just not the same without Anna."

Noah sighed. He always was closer to their older sister. Arius even more so than him. "Yeah, but she's married now. Besides, she's coming home this weekend with her husband, remember?"

"Yeah, I know. Hey, how come you never call Maximillion by his first name? You never even say his name unless he's here," commented the family head.

"Because, he may be our brother-in-law, but I don't really see him as family. We never even see him unless he's visiting us. Quite frankly, I don't see why I should bother acting like he's always been part of the family."

"Arius, I have something to ask you," said their Grandfather. Putting down his newspaper, he looked at his oldest grandson. "You mentioned having some new friends yesterday, right?"

"Yeah," answered the teen rather hesitantly, unsure of where this was going.

"Well, considering you're only 'friends' are your cousins and siblings, I want you to invite them over so you can introduce them to your siblings and maybe go out to Domino City and show them the city."

"Oh, umm, alright, I guess. I'll ask them. I don't know what they'll say." Looking at his watch, Arius stood up and grabbed his bags. "I've gotta go. Tea wants me to pick her up today."

"Wait, is that, what I think it is?"

Sighing at his grandpa's question, Arius nodded. "Yes, it is. I completed the Millenium Puzzle."

"Well, good luck. Knowing its history, it won't be long until your destiny comes into play or you become the next King of Games." Nodding to his nephew, he picked up his paper again. "Have a nice day."

Getting outside and getting to his limo, Arius rode off to his cousin's house. _Invite them all over, huh? Maybe I'll do just that._


	3. Arius vs Yuma: Rise of A New Number

When the cousins arrived at their school, Yuma and company were already waiting at the front entrance. When the wealthy teens got out of the limo, Yuma ran up to them, Astral floating right behind him. "Arius, I've made a decision!" declared Yuma. "I'm gonna- hey what's up with that weird necklace thing?"

Sighing, Arius lifted the puzzle in the palms of his hands. "This, Yuma, is the Millenium Puzzle. It belonged to my ancestor Yugi Moto, the King of Games himself."

"Woah, you're a descendent of Yugi Moto?!"

"Yeah Yuma. My name is Kaiba-Moto."

"Oh, Yeah," said Yuma as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"So, while we're on the subject, there's something I want to ask you guys."

"Hold on a second. Yuma, you had something to tell Arius?" commented Astral.

"Oh, yeah! Arius, I challenge you to a duel!" he declared as he pointed at Arius.

At first, the teen was confused and clearly showed it. After a few seconds, he started smirking. "Alright then Yuma, I accept your challenge."

Activating both their gazers and Duel Disk/Pad, the two duelists readied themselves. "Alright, I'll go first," declared Arius. "Draw!" **Arius 4000/ Yuma 4000**

"Alright, first I'll start by activating the spell card One For One. Now, I can send a monster from my hand and special summon a level one monster from my deck. And I choose my White Stone of Legend." As the image of the spell card glowed, a partially covered white stone appeared.

"Now, I summon my Mirage Dragon!" With a glowing light, the serpentine dragon appeared. "But don't think he'll be here for long, because now I activate my Dragonic Tactics Spell Card! By tributing both of my dragons, I can special summon a level eight dragon monster from my deck. So I choose my Darkstorm!" A bright light shot out of his deck and transformed into the large demonic and wind shrouded dragon. "And with that, I end my turn."

**Arius 4000/ Yuma 4000 **"The duel's barely started, and already he's summoned a powerful dragon," commented Astral. Leaning down next to Yuma, he spoke much quieter after seeing Yuma's hand. "Yuma, whatever you do, don't summon Goblindberg. His ability would enable you to summon a useful monster."

"Oh yeah? Well guess what Astral, I'm summoning Goblindberg!" When the plane flying goblin materialized, Yuma spoke again. "And now I'm summoning my Gogogo Golem in attack mode!"

As the golem appeared, Astral leaned down to Yuma again. "Be careful, we don't have any rank 4 Xyz monsters."

"Like heck we don't! I overlay my two monsters, and use them to Xyz summon, Number 39: Utopia!" When the light subsided, the large holy-looking warrior stood above him as if in challenge to his dragon. "Now I set a facedown, and I end my turn."

**Arius 4000/ Yuma 4000 **Drawing his card, Arius smirked at the spell card he just drew. "Alright, I activate my spell card: Silver's Cry! With this nifty spell card, I can summon one normal dragon-type monster from my graveyard. And I choose my Rabidragon!" After a dragon's roar sounded, the large rabbit-dragon hybrid appeared on the field.

Before he could do anything with his dragons, Arius felt a shattering pain in his head. Screaming, he gripped his head as a voice ran through his mind. _**Feel your number,**_ said the voice. It was dark, menacing, and almost controlling. _**Your number is within you, let it control you. Submit to your number!**_

As Arius screamed, a glowing 107 appeared on his right forearm. Lowering his arms, Arius' eyes were now wide and full of madness. "I overlay level eight and use my two dragons as the materials to set the overlay network!" The two monsters glowed and flew into the growing nebula vortex beneath them. "I Xyz summon Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!" As everyone watched, a large, black, inverted pyramid with red and blue highlights rose out of the vortex. The shape began to transform itself to become the large techno-like dragon. The two lights indicating its overlay units orbited the creature.

"What? A number monster? Astral, why didn't you mention him being a Number?" demanded Yuma.

"Because Yuma, I couldn't feel him holding a number," replied Astral. "In fact, I still don't."

"What? How's that possible?"

"Excuse me, if you and Astral are done bickering like an old married couple, I'm still going!" shouted the teen from across the courtyard. "I use Tachyon Dragon's ability to detach one overlay unit and activate his power!" When the light vanished into the creature, the red spot on its stomach began glowing. "By removing one overlay unit, I can use Tachyon's ability to negate the effects of all other monsters till the end of this battle phase!" As he finished, the dragon released the light at Utopia and made him kneel from the strike.

"No, Utopia!"

"Now Galaxy-Eyes, destroy Utopia! Cosmic Tachyon Burst!" The large dragon opened its mouth and blasted the warrior with its energy attack.

"I don't think so, I activate my trap card: Bye-Bye Damage! I can prevent my monster from being destroyed, but take half the battle damage!" A green shield encased Utopia and diverted the attack around it and struck Yuma. **Arius 4000/ Yuma 3750**

"You fool!" shouted the crazed teenager. "You just activated the other half of Tachyon's ability! If a card effect is activated in the same battle phase that I used Tachyon's ability, he gains 1000 attack points and a second attack for the rest of this battle phase." The dragon glowed violet as it gained more power. "And with 4000 attack points, destroy Utopia, my pet!" As before, the dragon attacked the crippled warrior, this time destroying it. **Arius 4000/ Yuma 2250 **"And with that, I end my turn," spoke the number crazed youth.

_This is strange,_ thought Astral. _Yuma's losing, and yet I don't feel as though I'm fading away. And I was not aware of Numbers greater than 100. Where did this one come from?_ "Yuma. I noticed something odd."

"Not now Astral. I'm kinda busy." Drawing his card, Yuma took inventory of his cards. "I summon my Gagaga Magician!" The chain wrapped magician appeared on the field. "And I set a facedown to end my turn."

The teen smirked. "I'll draw, and summon my Maiden with Eyes of Blue. Now, I'll- aggh!" The boy bent over in pain, head between his hands. As he screamed, the Puzzle began glowing at the Eye shape.

_What's happening to his Puzzle? _wondered Astral. _Why's it glowing?_

Inside his head, Arius felt as though he were caught in a tug-of-war. He felt that voice calling to him. It was making so many promises. Showing him how to reach his goals. Then, came the second voice. It was comforting, as though he knew it before. _Arius, fight it! I'm here to help, just let me in._

_**Fight him!**_ shouted the first one. _**He's going to stop you from reaching your potential!**_

_No!___thought Arius. _I won't give in to you! Stay out of my head!_

As though throwing a switch, it began vanishing. The dark voice started ebbing away as the familiar voice started pulling him away from it. _Yes Arius, fight him. Let's purge him together. _Feeling a surge of energy running through him, Arius felt that dark presence leave him as the kinder voice surged through him. **YU-GI-OH!**

After a flash of light, Arius stood there, the glowing number gone, and a fading eye shape on his forehead. Somehow, it seemed as though he had grown several inches, and he seemed much older. "Alright, Yuma. It's time to duel! I use my Tachyon Dragon's ability to rob your magician of his powers!" As with Utopia, the light struck the Magician and made him go bone stiff as he was laced in red static. "Now Dragon, destroy his Magician!" As the blast flew toward the Spellcaster, Yuma got ready to activate his facedown.

"Yuma, NO!"

"I activate my facedown, Shield Spear. With this, I give my Magician 400 extra attack and defense points!" When the attack struck, the damage was reduced to 1100 points. **Arius 4000/ Yuma 1150**

"Bad move, my friend. You once again triggered my Dragon's ability. Now, he gains 1000 attack points and a second attack. Go now, Galaxy-Eyes, attack his life points directly!"

It was only as the attack approached that Yuma realized Astral was going to vanish because of his carelessness. "Noooo!" Getting blasted, Yuma was sent flying from the force of the attack.

"Yuma, are you alright?" Opening his eyes, Yuma saw Astral floating over him, some form of concern on his face.

"Astral, how are you still here?" asked Yuma. "I thought you would vanish if we lost a Number duel. How are you still here?"

"I have no idea, Yuma. It may have something to do with the fact that his number is not one of the original 100," noted Astral.

"Hey Yuma, Astral, you guys alright?" Looking up, the two saw Arius back to normal, looking at them with concern. "Is something wrong?"

Astral was the one to answer his question. "You see, if we lose a duel involving number monsters, I'm supposed to vanish from existence. It's odd that I didn't after our duel, and I believe it has to do with your number being outside of the one hundred that contain my memories."

"Yuma!" Looking over, the three saw Tori and the others running over. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Tori. I'm fine."

"Well than let's go. Class is about to start!"

"Oh crap, you're right. Let's go!"

-Lunch Time-

"Ughh!" groaned Arius. "Why is this day dragging on?"

"I don't know why you're complaining," said Caswell. "I for one don't want school to end. The downside to the end of the day is not only having to leave school for the weekend, but all the homework from today."

"Oh yeah," said Arius. "I wanted to ask you guys something. My grandpa suggested this. How would you guys all like to come and spend the weekend at my place?"

"Woah really?!"

"Yes Yuma, really. My sister and her husband are coming by, and Tea's moving in, and I wanted my family to meet you guys. You can stay the weekend, and go home after school on Monday."

"Sounds awesome to me!" said Yuma.

"Sure, I'd like to see where my friend lives," said Tori in a rather excited manner.

"Yes, I'd like to meet the Kaiba family. As I recall, your brothers are geniuses. I'd like to meet them."

"Sure, I'll tag along just because."

"Awesome. So, show up around 10:00 A.M. and I can introduce you to everyone."

Just then, the bell rang to indicate the end of the lunch. Packing up their stuff, the group hurried off to their classes. Ahead of the group, Arius and Tea were talking about getting her stuff into the house after school. Behind them, Yuma and his friends were chatting about their stay at the corporate manager's house.


	4. At the Manor

Laying back on his bed, Arius let out a long sigh. He'd just spent the last few hours helping Tea get all of her stuff into her new room. Now, she stayed two doors down the hall from his room.

Laying on his bed, he looked at his room. Over his desk, two portraits hung on the wall. One was Yugi Moto with the Dark Magician in the background, and the other was Seto with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon behind him.

The walls of his room were a rich violet with a Blue-Eyes on the bare wall. His bed was large enough for at least three people and sat across from his desk. A bookshelf and dresser sat on the left wall of his room, and a speaker system on a set of drawers next to the dresser.

Next to the head of his bed, his nightstand stood with his black and white dragon desk light. An average sized TV sat on the wall next to his desk.

Feeling bored, the duelist picked up the Millenium Puzzle and stared at it. "What's up with you?" he asked the object in his hands. "You made me transform today, I'm sure of it. So, what are you?"

"Amazing isn't it? The Millenium Puzzle holds quite a few secrets and surprises," said that kind voice from before. Bolting upright and turning around, Arius saw a ghostly figure sitting there smiling at him.

"Wait a minute, I recognize you. You're Yugi Moto, both my ancestor and the King of Games."

The spirit smiled. "Not quite. While Yugi and I may look very similar, I am not him. My name is Atem, although Yugi called me 'Pharaoh' and the others often called me Yugi. I am the spirit who resides within your Puzzle. In times of need or when you're dueling, I can help you by taking over in a manner of speaking. But I can't do it without you allowing me to."

"So, you're the reason I was able to resist that dark voice?"

The spirit nodded. "There was a dark presence in that Number card. I was able to cleanse it and yourself in order to control it. From what Astral explained, you should be able to collect the numbers and not become corrupted if I help you obtain them."

"Huh, cool. So, you and I are going to be working kinda like Yuma and Astral?" asked the boy.

Once more, the older looking man smiled. "Indeed. You and I are a team now, just as Yugi and I once worked side by side. The Millenium Puzzle often works in mysterious ways," explained the ancient phantom. "The Millenium Puzzle must have brought us together for some reason. Whatever it is, it must be important for our fates to be tied together like this."

Before the teen could pursue his inquiry any further, a knock came from the door. "Master Arius, it's time for dinner."

Getting off his bed, the Puzzle-bearer opened his door. "Thank you Bucksworth," he told the head of the family staff. "I'll be down shortly." Closing the door, Arius walked through the hallways until he arrived in the dining room.

When he walked in, his grandfather sat at his end of the table, and the twins were mixing four different sodas into their dinner time drink. "I hope you two will be able sleep with all that caffeine," said their brother as he sat down at the head of the table.

"Don't sweat it bro," said Noah.

"Yeah, we're practically immune to caffeine," said Seto. "Besides, we geniuses are cursed with the occasional case of insomnia."

"Yeah," said the older boy. "Well, you'd better behave yourselves tomorrow. My friends are coming over, not to mention Annabelle's coming home tomorrow. So, yeah, behave yourselves."

"Oh, so your friends are joining us?" asked their Grandfather.

"Yup."

"Hey everyone, sorry I'm late to my first dinner here," apologized Tea as she walked in and sat next to the twins.

"It's alright, see?" At that time, the serving staff started bringing in trays with food on them. "Dinner's just being served. So!" he clapped his hands together. "Who's turn was it to choose dinner?"

"It was ours, bro," piped Seto. "Noah and I chose a delightful breaded fish dinner with steamed vegetables."

"Oh, sounds yummy!" said Tea. "And it looks good, too!"

As the family dug in, they began discussing their days. They even shared a laugh when Noah and Seto started tormenting each other over the girls they each liked. It was all going well until they came to Arius' duel with Yuma earlier in the day.

"Arius, the idea of a Duel Monsters card being able to possess its owner like that is so ridiculously farfetched, especially for someone like you," said Seto.

"And there's no way that a spirit could be living in the Millenium Puzzle. It's so unscientific," said Noah.

"It really happened, you two!" said Tea. "I was there. Arius went completely bonkers when he summoned that monster. Then he started glowing and looked taller, older, and had a weird eye shape on his head at first."

"Well I don't buy it, what about you grandpa?"

Setting down his silverware, the older Kaiba looked up at them. "I believe him," he said. "I've heard stories from my parents about Yugi having a spirit watching over him when he needed help." He then looked at his oldest Grandson. "I believe Arius, not only because of those stories, but because I trust that Arius would not exaggerate what he experienced. Especially since it involves such an important Moto family relic."

After the man said his piece, the family found itself in an awkward silence. Finishing their dinner in silence, the family members went their own ways after finishing the meal. Retreating to his room, Arius sat down and put his head between his hands.

"Is everything alright, Arius?" asked the Pharaoh.

Arius sighed. "No Pharaoh. I'm alright. It's just, my brothers didn't buy into what I said, and only Grandpa and Tea believe me. I guess I'm just struggling with adjusting to everything that's happened today."

As the teen sighed again, the ancient dueling spirit got an idea. "Arius, you're going to bed, correct?"

He looked at his clock. "Yeah, in a couple of hours, why?"

"Well, I think there's something I have to show you."

With that, the Pharaoh vanished from sight. Having nothing better to do, Arius got into his night clothes and sat at his desk and set about the horrible task of filling out paperwork for his company. _The last thing I want is to have paperwork to do over the weekend when my friends come over._ He stopped himself there. He was still growing used to the word 'friends'. It was starting to grow on him.

After two hours of budgeting forms, Arius let out a long yawn. "Well, time for bed." Going to his bed, he set the Puzzle on his nightstand as he got under the covers of his bed. Yawning, he felt himself get pulled into the realm of sleep.

-Dream Realm-

Opening his eyes, Arius found himself in what looked like a dungeon in the form of an M.C. Escher painting. "Where am I?"

"You're in my soul room," replied a familiar voice. Turning, Arius found the Pharaoh standing there. "This room represents the inner conflict and mystery of my past."

"Wow." Arius was amazed. There were so many impossible angles and doors, the place looked like a vision of an artist's dream. "So, why am I here?"

"You're here because I feel like sharing parts of my mind with you. Come." The Pharaoh began walking towards the nearest door. Opening it, the two found themselves at a stadium. At one end was Seto with three Blue-Eyes, and the other had the Pharaoh with no monsters.

"Hey, I recognize this place. I dreamed it the night I completed the Puzzle." He turned to the Pharaoh. "Why are we here?"

"Because of what I found inside of Seto's mind when I used my powers on him." As the two watched, Exodia emerged from his circle and destroyed all three dragons. As they stood there, the glow intensified, the surroundings changed to a white void filled with images floating around them. Most of the images had similar themes. They were either based on being supreme or pain and darkness.

"Seto's mind was filled with so much hurt and darkness, that when I opened his mind, I let some of it out and freed him from it." The spirit looked at his new partner. "I see some of these ideas being forced to you by non-existent standards and pressures."

Their surroundings faded again, and they returned to the maze-like room. "Our time is almost up, but I hope this helped you to some extent."

"It did Pharaoh. Thanks." The world around them began fading. Arius felt the world start shaking as he woke up. "Well, see you when I wake up Pharaoh."

-Real World-

Opening his eyes, Arius saw the sunlight streaming in through the blinds of his window. Sitting up, he took notice of the time on his clock. 8:30. After a brief pause, the importance of today hit him. "Crap!" Grabbing a towel, he bolted into his bathroom and hopped into the shower. After a quick 10 minute wash, Arius toweled himself off and got dressed in his usual casual clothes: a light blue zip-up sweatshirt with a dragon silhouette over his heart, a simple black t-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and his favorite black sneakers. Throwing on the puzzle, he ran back to the bathroom to dry his hair.

Walking out with his hair styled just right, he noticed the clock. 9:00. "Alright, doing great. Annabelle's going to be here at ten thirty, and Yuma and the others at ten. I can grab some breakfast, then they'll be here." Dashing down the hall, he heard Tea singing to the loud pop music in her room. Shaking his head, Arius walked down to the kitchen and threw together a bowl of cereal.

Taking about eight minutes to eat, he polished off the bowl and left it in the kitchen for the servants. Walking out to the main living room, Arius took a seat and started looking through his deck. _Seriously, where did this card come from_, he thought as he stared at Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon. _Did it just appear when Yuma summoned Utopia?_

He was snapped out of his musings when his phone went off in his pocket. Tapping the screen, it lit up to show one of the security officers from the gate. "Ahh, Mr. Kaiba. There's a group of ruffians at the gate claiming to know you."

The millionaire boy smirked. "Does one of them have a spike of red hair by any chance?"

The guard took a quick look outside the window next to him. "Yes, he's the one claiming he knows you and is almost threatening us."

"Those are my friends. Let them in and bring them to the house. I'm in the main living room." Tapping the red button on the screen of his phone, he slid the smart device back into his pocket. Putting his deck back in the second case on his belt, Arius stood up and straightened out his clothes.

"Wow look at this place!" shouted a familiar voice. "This house is amazing. How does someone live in a place like this?"

"Quite easily, Yuma," replied Arius as he walked out of the living room. "Welcome, my friends, to the Heartland Kaiba Estate."

"This place is amazing, Arius. Its quite the house," said Caswell.

"Isn't it?" asked Tea as she came down the stairs. "Hey Guys, hey Tori. I see you guys are ready for this weekend." Arius wasn't surprised, he'd told them to come over for the weekend, so they packed accordingly.

Pulling out his phone, Arius typed a few numbers in to his number. Putting it to his ear, he got a hold of the Chief of Staff. "Bucksworth, it's Arius. I need you to send some people down here and get my friends' luggage. Take the girl's baggage up to Tea's room. The boys' up to mine. Also make sure the rooms are set up for later today." The others assumed he got an affirmative response, because he promptly thanked the person and hung up.

"Oh, feel free to leave your things by the door. Bucksworth will take care of it." Turning, he gestured with his hand. "Follow! I'd like to show you guys to our rooms."

As the group followed the corporate children through the maze-like hallways, Arius explained the Kaiba and Moto family histories. "And this is my room." When Arius opened the door, they were amazed to see the floor set up with several futon-like cushions and the boys' sleeping bags all over the mess of mats.

"Wow!" exclaimed Caswell. He ran over to the large bookcase against his wall. "The assortment of books here is amazing."

"You really seem to like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon," said Tori as she stared at the large image of the mentioned dragon.

"The Blue-Eyes is the ace card of my ancestor Seto Kaiba, and I've really taken a liking to it. It's become one of my ace cards, just like him," explained Arius as he stood kept Yuma from touching anything.

"C'MON Arius! Why won't you let me touch anything?" demanded Yuma after being forced away from the twin dragon lamp for the fourth time.

"Because Yuma, you've been trying to get your paws on everything in sight. I don't want to have your little hands all over my stuff!" snapped Arius.

"Well I think its a pretty sweet room," said Bronk.

Feeling bored, Tea tapped Tori on the shoulder. "Arius just got out his game systems. You're probably going to get very bored. So," she paused to grab Tori by the shoulders and turned her towards the door, "we're going to my room. I have a feeling you'll like that more."

Despite the green-haired girl's protests, Tea managed to get her new gal-pal into her hot pink room. The walls had posters of some pop bands, and others were promoting movies. The floor was soft yellow carpeting and had a series of light pink hearts and stars. The bed was shaped like a heart, with the blankets being light blue and stars printed in a darker blue. Much like in the boys' room, a couple of futon pads had been set up with a couple of sleeping bags. "Wow, it's very... Girly. And pink."

"Call me old fashioned," said Tea as she flopped down on the bed. "It's kinda stereotyped, but I really like this kinda stuff. It's just who I am."

Tori started looking at the shelves of books, and was amazed at the variety. It varied from fantasy novels, modeling scrapbook, and... "Umm... Why do you have several collections of trashy romance novels?"

"What? I'm a young lady. Aren't I entitled to the books I read?" The Wheeler girl acted like it was perfectly normal to be discussing that kind of topic.

As Tori started blushing, a frantic Arius appeared in the doorway. "Tea, Anna's here! Let's go!" And like that, he went running.

"C'mon Tori, let's go." Grabbing her friend's hand, Tea went chasing after her cousin and the boys. "Arius, wait up!"


	5. Dragons vs Toons

As Arius ran through the halls, dodging serving staff and hall tables, Yuma and the others had to struggle to keep up with the Kaiba heir.

"Tea, who's Anna?" asked Tori as she was dragged along by her friend.

"Anna is Arius' older sister. She got married recently and Arius hasn't seen her as much outside of work. She's also the one who works with me and my modeling career," explained the dirty blonde.

"Oh." After a few more turns, they entered the main lobby and saw the tall brunette and her husband walking in.

"Anna!" Running down the staircase, the middle teen practically threw himself around his sister's waist. "I missed you so much!"

The taller girl laughed as she returned her brother's hug. "I missed you Ari." Separating, she looked up the stairs at her descending cousin. "Hey Tea. How are the clothes I sent you? They fit alright?"

The girl laughed. "Anna, if they didn't fit, I'd have gone to you and been refitted."

"Good point." As she said that, a pair of smaller boys successfully tackled her.

"Sis! We missed you!" chorused the twins hugged their sister.

"It's good to see you guys too." She laughed. _Some things never change or get old._

"What, no greeting for your brother-in-law?" Arius smirked. The man asking this was taller than Arius by about four inches. He had clear blue eyes, unlike Arius' brown, had straight, long silver hair. He was wearing a red suit jacket and a pair of black slacks.

"Maximillion, it's great to see you," said the teen as he shook his in-law's hand.

"Arius, you know you don't need to be so formal."

"Heh, I guess old habits die hard," said the boy as he scratched the back of his head.

Laughing, the silver-haired young man turned to his other in-laws. "Noah, Seto, Tea, long time no see."

Tea and Seto were the ones to hug their relative. Noah, ever serious and cold towards Maximillion, gave him a smile and a hand-shake. "Maximillion, it's certainly been a while."

That made the man sigh to himself._ It's always the same with him,_ he thought. _What did I do to anger Noah like this?_ Nevertheless, he returned Noah's handshake. "Likewise, Noah."

"Annabelle, Maximillion, so wonderful of you to join us this weekend." Coming down the stairs, the elderly Kaiba gave Annabelle a hug and Maximillion a hand shake.

"Hey! Did you forget us?!"

"Yuma, calm down! It's a family reunion."

"It's alright Tori!" called Arius. "Why don't you all come down so I can introduce you."

Introductions went smoothly, if one counts Caswell and Tori nearly having fan-attacks meeting Anna and the twins. "Well Ari," said his sister. "Looks like you've got some interesting friends."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Say, Arius. Why don't you and I have a duel for your friends? I think they'd like to see your skills in action," said Maximillion.

"Okay!" _What's this feeling I'm getting from Maximillion? It feels like something terrible is waiting for me._

_I feel it too Arius,_ said the Pharaoh. _I'm not sure what it is just yet though. Be careful._

_Will do, Pharaoh_. "Everybody, right this way! We're heading to family dueling field." As he started walking, he called out "Allons-y!"

The boy's friends were confused, but his family smirked. "He needs to stop watching so much British science fiction," sighed his Grandfather.

After five minutes of wandering the halls, they came to the field. It resembled a large black dueling grid with a large gap between the two sides. Each side had a console of sorts with a dueling pad, with one being red and the other blue.

As the others sat in the seats on the sides, Arius walked over to the red set up and Maximillion to the blue one. "You ready, Arius?"

"Indeed." As the Pharaoh appeared next to him, he felt a new confidence with the spirit alongside him. Taking a phrase out of the Pharaoh's vocabulary, he set his deck and extra deck on the duel pad. "It's time to duel!" The corners of the square shaped area raised up to reveal four pillars, glowing with rainbow lights.

"Those are holographic projectors," explained Noah. "They project the monsters and cards onto the field so that nobody needs a Duel Gazer to see the duel. The counters on the side of each booth indicate their life points."

"I'll go first," said Arius as he drew his card. Taking inventory of his cards, he smirked. "I'll start by summoning my Mirage Dragon." The large translucent dragon roared into existence. "I then set four cards face down." _These traps are gonna come in handy. Damage condenser will help me summon another monster when he uses his Toon monsters against me, Defense draw gives me another card when he attacks, Fiendish Chain to stop one of his effect monsters, and Kunai With Chain to stop an attack on my dragon. _**Arius 4000/ Pegasus 4000**

"My draw, and I'm going to activate the spell card Toon World!" As they watched, the large story book appeared on the field. "By paying 1000 life points, I can activate this delightful little spell, I can special summon all sorts of interesting monsters.(**Arius 4000/ Pegasus 3000**) But, I start by normal summoning Goblindbergh. With his ability, I can special summon a level 4 monster from my hand. And I choose my Humanoid Slime!" As they watched, the plane flying Goblin flew in with the gelatinous being. "Now, I special summon my Toon Mermaid!"

The large book opened up, and shot out a blue light. When the light faded, there was a cartoon mermaid with a pink bow laying in a googly-eyed clam. "Now I use my spell again to summon Toon Gemini Elf." As before, the book released the monster, only this time it was a pair of sultry looking Toon elves. "But they're not sticking around, because I tribute them to special summon my Toon Dark Magician Girl!" The elves vanished, only to be replaced by the five-year old looking Spellcaster. "Now Magician Girl, Attack him directly with your Toon ability!" As she charged up her attack, Arius smirked. As the blast hurtled towards him, he called out to his opponent. "I don't think so! I activate my trap card, Kunai With Chain and use both of its abilities. Not only do I equip it to my dragon to increase its attack by 500, I also use it to force your little girl into defense mode!" As the card glowed, the chains shot out at the Magician Girl and grabbed her ankles. Pulling her legs out from under her, she promptly fell into defense mode.

"Well played, Arius, but it makes little difference to me. "You've just delayed the inevitable." It was then he began radiating with energy and a glowing '104' appeared over the left side of his upper face. _No, it can't be!_

"I overlay my Goblindbergh, Slime, and Mermaid to set up my overlay network!" Lucian was amazed as the three monsters flew into the starry vortex. "I Xyz summon Number 104: Masquerade!" The light from the vortex transformed into a large blue shape. The blue exterior began unfolding to reveal the well dressed masked being. In one of its hands, it held three connected rings. The three lights orbiting the monster each turned a different way around its form.

"Now, Masquerade, destroy his dragon!" Detaching one his rings, he launched it towards the dragon and sliced it in two, destroying it. **Arius 3400/ Pegasus 3000**

"Thanks, I activate my trap card: Damage Condenser!" The large machine appeared and filled itself with energy. "When I take damage, I can activate this card to summon a monster from my deck whose attack it less than or equal to the damage I just took. So, I choose The White Stone of Legend."

After the white stone appeared, Maximillion sighed. "Very well, I end my turn. But, let me introduce my monster's ability. At the end of each turn, I send the top card of your deck to the graveyard."

Sighing, Arius sent his card to the graveyard. "My draw." Drawing a card, Arius smirked. _Well, looks like that monster he sent to the graveyard is gonna come in handy._ "I summon my Alexandrite dragon in attack mode. I also activate my spell card: Dragonic Tactics! With this, I can tribute two dragons to special summon a level 8 dragon from my deck. And I choose, the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" Yuma and his friends were shocked.

"He has another Galaxy-Eyes dragon?" asked Yuma.

"Yeah," said Anna. "Photon Dragon is one of his ace cards. He loves using it."

"And because I sent my stone to the graveyard, I can add Blue-Eyes to my hand."

"Not so fast. I use Masquerade's ability. By removing one Overlay Unit, I can negate the activation of a monster's ability and inflict 800 points of damage!" **Arius 2600/ Pegasus 3000**

"Oh well, I guess that means I'm defenseless, except of course, for this!" One of his traps raised up. "I activate the trap card Fiendish Chain! This nifty card eliminates the abilities of an effect monster on the field and keeps it from attacking!" Green chains launched themselves from the card and ensnared the tall Spellcaster, bringing it down to its knees. Now, I use Photon Dragon's ability to remove him and a targeted monster from play until the end of the turn if he does battle. Photon, attack Masquerade and remove yourselves from play!" Charging towards the chained monster, Arius' dragon grabbed Masquerade and in a neon blue flash, removed the two of them from play. "And with that, end my turn and bring both monsters back, at the cost of my trap. But on the bright side, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon gains 500 attack points for each Overlay unit still on an Xyz monster it does battle with!" The dragon glowed with a blue light as it gained another 1000 attack points.

"Interesting trick, but it won't stop the inevitable. I change my Magician to attack mode and use her Toon power to attack directly. So, use Toon Magic Burst!"

"Not so fast. I use the trap card Defense Draw! This lets me change all the damage I'd take to zero and draw one card." Drawing his card, he smirked. _Silver's Cry. Perfect_.

"Very well. I activate my spell card, Toon Table of Contents. This lets me add one Toon monster from my deck to my hand. I now sacrifice my Toon Dark Magician Girl to summon my Toon Summoned Skull!" The young girl vanished and let the animated, skeletal demon launched itself out of the large book. "With that, I end my turn and send one card off the top of your deck to your graveyard."

"My draw."** Arius 2600/ Pegasus 3000** _Yes! Just what I need to help cripple Masquerade!_ "I'll start by activating the spell card Silver's Cry! With this, I bring my Blue-Eyes White Dragon out of my graveyard!" After the distinctive roar, his favorite ace card appeared in a flash. "But now, I overlay level eight, and set my own Overlay Network!" As with Maximillion, the two dragons entered his vortex. "Behold my power! Arise, Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!" The huge dragon roared its way into existence from its prismatic prison.

"Wait, he was serious about the Tachyon Dagon thing?!" shrieked the twins.

"Well it's too bad you'll never get to use his ability, otherwise, you'll just take damage."

"Not exactly. You see, Tachyon Dragon's effect him disable the effects of all other monsters on the field by removing one Overlay Unit!"

"What?!"

"And now, Tachyon, use Cosmic Tachyon Burst and destroy Masquerade!"

"No, Masquerade!" With the Spellcaster gone, Maximillion lost his number monster.

"But that's not all, I send from my hand to the graveyard my Honest to increase the damage you take by the attack of the monster I just destroyed, so you take the full force of Tachyon's power! You lose, Maximillion!"

"Nooooo!" Clutching his head, he screamed as the number on his face shattered itself.

"What's happening to Maximillion?" shrieked Anna.

"Arius is removing the power that Number Card had over him," said Yuma.

Holding out his hand, the Egyptian eye appeared on Arius' head. Glowing brightly with the Number Card on Maximillion's duel pad, the eye took on a golden light. As the crowd watched, the white light covered card floated upwards from the surface and across the stadium to Arius' outstretched hand. Grabbing the card, he gasped as he felt knowledge rushing through his mind.

_-In the memory-_

_"Stand back Pharaoh!" shouted the white haired Thief King. "The power of the legendary monsters will belong to me and make me the supreme ruler!"_

_"Not in your dreams, you traitorous scum!" declared the Pharaoh._

-Real life-

As the light faded from the card, Arius felt the memory fading from his mind. "Pharaoh, did you...?"

"Indeed. This concerns me, I started trying to remember my past before Yugi and I worked together, but there are several gaps in my mind." The Pharaoh sighed. "That scene we witnessed was one such memory. Mine isn't devoid of memories like Astral, but there are a few gaps."

"So then, if not all of the numbers are your memories, what are they?"

"I don't know."

"Arius, that was awesome!" shouted Yuma as he ran over. "You just won a Number Card."

"Indeed," said Astral. "Though, I can't help but ask, what happened upon obtaining that number?"

"We witnessed one of my memories," said the Pharaoh.

"So, your memories are missing too?" inquired Astral.

"Yes, wait. You're able to see me?" The Pharaoh was shocked.

"Of course, you are quite visible."

Yuma was confused. "What are you guys talking about?! There's no one there!"

"Clearly Yuma can't see the Pharaoh."

"Arius!" Looking to the source of the voice, Arius saw the twins coming over to him. "We're so sorry we didn't believe you about the Number Card thing."

"It's fine you two. But speaking of which, how's Maxi doing?" his concern for his in-law coming out.

"I'm fine," said the mentioned man. "Arius, thank you so much. I can't thank you enough. That Number's power was horrible. Thank you so much." Stopping his hand shake, he pulled his in-law into a hug.

"Any time, Maximillion," said the teen as he returned the hug. "I'm just glad I could get that number away from you."

"Hey, Ari," said Anna as she walked over. "If you're down purging dark spirits from my husband's body, how about you show your friends to the pool?"

"Oh yeah! I guess we should actually hang out." As he laughed at his lack in thought, Yuma and the others realized something.

"Uh, Arius, we didn't bring bathing suits," said Tori.

Anna patted Tori on the shoulder. "I'm a clothing maker and designer, remember? I'll make you guys some suits. But first," she pulled a measuring tape out of her pocket, "I'll need everyone's measurements." Walking from boy to boy, she began measuring their leg sizes and and waist measurements, muttering to herself and writing them in a notepad.

Taking Tori's hand she started pulling her away with Tea following along. "Wait where are we going?" cried Tori.

"I need both accurate measures of the whole body, and I think you'd be more comfortable in my studio than here." Despite the smaller girl's protests, the cousins eventually got her to the well-lit studio of the oldest Kaiba child. The walls were covered in venue posters, mirrors, and sketches of clothing designs. "Alright, get up on the platform and remove your shirt and bra so I can get an accurate chest measure," said the designer as she started sketching trunks for Yuma, Caswell, and Bronk.

"What?!" shrieked Tori as she was pushed onto the slightly raised platform by Tea. "Why do I have to go topless?" _They're gonna find out if I do._

"It's just so I can get a good measure of what size to make the top. Now," putting down her pencil, she picked up a measuring tape. "Take off that shirt and get rid of your bra."

Nervously, Tori pulled her shirt over her head and exposed her bra. Tea was confused. "Hey Tor, why do you have an ace bandage wrapped around your chest?"

The green haired girl blushed at the question as she removed her bra, now standing in her skirt and bandage. "It's because I'm rather, self conscious about my body, especially around Yuma."

"Oh, you've got a crush on him don't you?" The green haired girl's blush was all the answer Tea needed from her. "Don't worry, our lips are sealed."

Smiling in the comforting big sister way she learned after being there for her brothers, she put a hand on Tori's shoulder. "Tori, there's nothing wrong with your body. A woman should always be proud of herself, not hide her body's natural gifts. Trust me." Getting a comforted smile in response, she nodded. "Now let's get that bandage of you and see what you're so ashamed of."

Raising her arms, Tori still blushed as the young woman unwrapped the bandage around her chest. When she was done, Anna gave a comforting smile. "See, there's nothing wrong with being a B-cup."

"Yeah," said Tea. "I've worn a B for about two years, and I've never felt uncomfortable about it."

Raising her arms again, Tori stood still as Anna took all the necessary measurements. "Alright, all done. I'm thinking a nice light pink and yellow two piece suit, ok?"

"Umm... Sure. It'll be weird for me though. I've never worn a two piece before. I've usually just worn the school's one piece suit."

Tea patted her on the back. "Trust me, they're pretty comfy and give some degree of mobility the one piece suits don't have." She tossed a bra at Tori. "Here, you can get dressed."

"Thanks." She looked around a bit and at the bra. "Umm... Two things. One: where's my bandage? And two: this isn't my bra."

"I know," said Tea. "I threw out your stupid bandage and got you one of my much plainer bras," she said as she sat down on the bed.

"What?!" Tori started panicking.

She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder from Annabelle. "Tori, we literally just talked about this. You gotta be much more comfortable with your body."

Nodding on agreement, the green haired girl put on the new garment and slipped into her shirt. "I wonder how the guys will react to this?"

As Anna went about making the suits, Tea put a hand to her chin in thought. "Well, if Yuma notices, which I doubt, he'll give you a pretty good reason to beat him senseless, Bronk probably wouldn't care, and Arius and Caswell are too gentlemanly to comment, but they'd definitely notice."

"Oh, alright." _So, Yuma probably won't notice me like this._

"Alright Tori, I'm done, just need you to try it on." Handing the quiet girl the folded suit, Annabelle pushed her towards a changing blind. "You can change behind there."

A couple minutes later, Tori came out wearing the bikini. The top was mostly pale yellow with a pink heart on the right cup, and the bottom was a swirled pattern of yellow and pink. "It feels kinda like I'm in my underwear," she said as she walked out. "And the bottom feels a little tight in back. Also, is it normal to feel so exposed?"

As she kept fretting, Anna put a finger to her lips. "Tori, you're fine. Trust me. I made the suit to be much more modest on the top, but still show a little, and the bottom is meant to be a little cheeky and get a certain boy's attention. Something tells me you kinda want Yuma to notice you," said the older Kaiba as she showed Tori how she looked in the mirror.

_Wow, I really do look good._ "Wait, what? I'm not trying to get Yuma to look at me!"

Anna just laughed. "Don't worry, Tea's out of the room, and I'm pretty good a keeping secrets. So, your secret's safe with me."

As the young girl changed back into her clothes, she blushed. "It's just, Yuma and I have been friends for so long, and I really like him. I just don't want to rush into something and reck our friendship." Stepping out from behind the curtain, she sighed."I just don't know what to do."

Anna gave the girl a comforting hug. "Just let things take their course. But be careful, you just might wind up catching the eye of my brother. And trust me, when he wants something, he usually sets his mind towards getting it."

"I'll keep that in mind." _Could I really wind up getting Arius' interest? Would that be so bad?_

A knock on the door caught their attention. When Anna opened it, Tea was standing there. "Tori, you done here?"

"Yeah." She turned to Annabelle."Thanks for the swimsuit."

"Don't mention it kiddo! Just remember what we talked about."

"Okay." Walking out with the dirty blonde, she closed the door as they went to leave the suit in Tea's room. After doing so, they went to Arius' room, and grabbed the doorknob. "Let's do this."


	6. A Mother Well-Missed

When the girls walked in, Yuma was yelling at Arius as the four of them sat on the floor in front of his X-Box system, Halo 4 on the screen. "You're totally cheating! There's no way I can be losing this badly to you!"

The teen sighed. "Yuma, need I remind you that you chose the loadout you're using. It's your own fault you chose an Assault Rifle and Spartan Laser."

"Yeah, Yuma," said Bronk. "I chose close and medium range weapons', and I'm in second place."

"Unfortunately, my choice of strategy weapons put me down," said Caswell. "But even I'm doing better than you!"

Before Yuma could attack his friends, Tori cleared her throat. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Well Tori," said Arius, "Yuma here is learning that reckless abandon and choosing cool sounding weapons never work out well."

Yuma was staring at her. _Something's different about Tori... But what? I've got it!_ "Hey Tori, did your boobs get bigger all of a sudden?"

A solid fist from Arius connected with Yuma's face. "Yuma, you should never be so blunt or rude to a woman. Especially to a young lady we happen to be friends with." The teen shook his head in annoyance and looked at her. "Sorry about that Tori. He had no right to treat you like that. Are you alright."

As she blushed and nodded, Arius made a note to himself. _I should ask Tea about this later. She always helps me out if I ask her something if I never know what's happening._

"So, when's lunch?" asked the greenette. _Why did Arius defend me like that? I would have just hit Yuma myself._

Arius took a look at his clock. "Well, we were planning on a family lunch, so it should be about..." A knock came at the door.

"Master Kaiba, it's time for lunch."

"Now," said the teen as a smirk grew on his face. Opening the door and leading the way, Arius brought them to the dining room.

When they walked in, the twins, Anna and Maximillion, and their grandfather were already at the table. The twins were playing War, and Anna was talking with her husband. At the end of the table, the Kaiba kids' grandfather sat patiently.

"Hey everybody. Sorry we're late," said Arius. He took his seat at the head of the table while Tea sat next to Noah. Sliding their seats back, Yuma and Tori sat down next to Maximillion, with Tori right next to Maximillion. Caswell took the seat next to Tea and Bronk sat in the remaining seat next to Yuma.

Once everyone was seated, the serving staff began bringing in plates with sandwiches and various other snacks. Bucksworth stood beside Arius as he announced the meal. "Today, we went fairly basic. We have bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches with rice balls and chips on the side."

Arius nodded to the Head Butler. "Thank you Bucksworth. You may go."

After the butler left, Anna looked her brother. "Wow, Bucksworth is even more uptight than he usual is."

"Tell me about it. Well, dig in everybody!" As if on cue, the assembled party dug in to their lunch. Soon enough they started swapping stories. Anna told the story about the party where she and her Maximillion met and fell in love, earning bored groans out of Yuma and the twins, and coos and cries of "how sweet" from the two girls present.

The twins then proceeded to talk about the time they had convinced a substitute teacher they were the same person repeating a single event. The siblings and friends got a huge kick out of the story. When they had finished the meal, the three boys staying with Arius got some news.

"Your suits are all ready, they're all waiting in your room. When you guys get back to your room, you can change and hit the pool."

Yuma jumped out of his seat and stood on the chair. "Then let's go already! I'm ready to hit the pool!"

Astral sighed. "Yuma, why are you so eager to go into a mass of water?"

"Because it's fun Astral!" yelled the boy at his mostly invisible companion.

"Hmm. Observation: humans find frolicking in an amount of water to be fun and enjoyable," noted the floating being.

"Who's he yelling at?" whispered Seto to Arius.

The teen leaned over to his younger brother. "An invisible spirit that only me and him can see."

"Well, this is kinda weird."

Before Arius could respond, he was grabbed by the collar and Yuma began dragging him away from the table. "C'mon Arius! Lets go!"

As he was dragged away, the others followed them along, Tea and Tori catching up and freeing the young CEO. It didn't really change anything, since they were already at the rooms. Separating so they could change, the guys went to their room.

Laying on the mattresses were three pairs of trunks, and the boys had no trouble figuring out who's was who's. Yuma had a pair of white trunks with orange flames on the cuffs. Caswell's were dark cyan with small blue atom symbols, while Bronk only had a pair of basic dark blue trunks.

Going over to his drawers, Arius pulled out a pair of trunks with two dragon silhouettes, one for each leg. The right leg was white with a black dragon shadow curling up to his hip, and the left was the same in an opposite color scheme.

Undressing in front of the others with his back to them, he quickly got into his swim trunks. Turning around,he saw his friends staring at him in shock. "What? We're all guys here. It's not like we're little kids." Walking into his private bathroom, he came out with four towels. Taking a white towel, he started towards the door. "I'll be outside. Join me when you get into your suits."

Closing the door, he stood out in the hall, waiting for his friends. As he stood there, the two girls came out of their room in their swimsuits. Tea's he had seen many times. The hot pink bikini was nothing new to him. She wore it all the time. When the family got together at the estate, they often went swimming, and she'd have the perfect excuse to wear the suit Annabelle made her. When he saw Tori's, his jaw practically dropped. Despite his gentlemanly nature, Arius couldn't help but make a low whistle. "Damn Tor, you clean up real nice."

Seeing him smile and compliment, Tori immediately started blushing. "Umm... Thanks Arius. That's really kind of you to say that." _Oh my god, could Arius actually think of me like that? Annabelle did say I could catch his eyes._

He threw his thumb over his shoulder. "You girls go on ahead. I'm waiting for those idiots to change. See you at the pool."

Nodding, they said their goodbyes and headed past him. "You know, your friend Tori reminds me of my friend and Yugi's wife, Tea Gardner." Arius looked to his left and saw the Pharaoh smirking at him. "In fact, their names aren't that far. Especially in regards to their last names."

"You really think so, Pharaoh?" asked Arius. "You think Tori is like my great-grandma Tea?"

The spirit nodded. "I was good friends with all of Yugi's friends. If there's one thing I know, its how they acted. Tori definitely reminds me of Tea." He put a hand to his chin in thought. "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Tori was the new carrier of Tea's soul."

"Arius, we're ready! Lets hit the pool!" Looking at the doorway, he saw his three friends in their suits and each holding a towel.

"Alright, let's go." Walking through the halls, the group of boys found themselves in the backyard of the estate, which looked like a small courtyard.

"Woah!" shouted Yuma. "This place is enormous!"

Arius laughed. "This is nothing! You should see the actual Kaiba Estate, or even our beach homes. THOSE are courtyards." Snapping his fingers, he walked onto the grass to avoid walking barefoot on the gravel paths. "Right this way! The girls are waiting for us!" As they walked, Arius' friends saw all sorts of staff members going about, tending to the garden areas.

Soon enough, they got to the pool area. As they set down their towels on some chairs, Tori was getting out of the pool. When the three boys saw Tori their jaws dropped. "Woah Tori! What happened to you?! You're HOT!"

As Tori silently steamed, Yuma found his face getting acquainted with the concrete ground around the in-ground pool after Arius punched him in the back of the head. "You asshole. Never say that to a young lady! Especially since you're already on thin ice after your comment earlier." Pulling Yuma to his feet, he delivered a hard kick to his balls, followed by a kick to his back. When he fell face first into the pool, Arius had a pissed off look on his face. "Know your place."

Tori was surprised. _Seriously! Is he just being a gentleman, or is he trying to catch my attention?! _The green haired girl was really getting flustered.

Taking a breath, Arius walked off when Yuma finally surfaced. "What the hell?!" yelled Yuma. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because, Yuma," said Arius as he got on the diving board at the deeper end. "A gentleman must give a young lady as much respect as they deserve. In Tori's case, she deserves plenty since she is such a kind young lady." With that, Arius dove into the water and swam over to his cousin.

With a cheer, Tori jumped into the pool and splashed the two cousins. "Cannon Ball!" shouted Bronk as he drenched the four swimmers.

"Okay, nice and easy," said Caswell. Climbing down the poolside ladder, he gasped at how cool the water was. Swimming over to the others, he was very careful and was breathing deeply when he got to them. "Oh, how I hate being so thin," muttered the nerdy boy.

Laughing, Arius splashed his friends and dove down, Yuma giving suit and Tori laughing at the distance the much less athletic boy had to catch Arius. When Arius stopped, he found himself being dunked up and down by Bronk in payback.

"Well, looks like they're having fun," commented Tea. "You know, this is the first time in a long time I've seen Arius this happy."

"Really?" asked Tori as Caswell swam off to join the boys' splash fight. _Is he really that lonely?_

Tea nodded. "He either kept to himself with work, or he'd have some fun with our cousins. He may have fun with Noah and Seto, but this is the first time I've seen him genuinely happy."

"Wow. That's so...lonely." Tori felt really bad for him. _I feel so sorry for him._

She felt an elbow dig into her side. "You know Tor," said Tea as she slid up to her gal pal. "I've noticed the looks you've been sending my cousin. I think if you really wanted to, you'd be able to make him your boyfriend. If you wanted to, though."

The green-haired girl turned an unhealthy shade of red and began stuttering in embarrassment. "I-I-I don't have a crush on Arius! What're you talking about, Tea?" As she talked, she shook her head back and forth while a smirk kept growing on Tea's face.

Chuckling, Tea just shook her head. "Alright Tor, I'll drop it. But still, just keep what I said in mind. Besides, call it a hunch, but I think Arius has his eye on you." Smirking, the blonde dove under the water and swam towards Yuma. As Tori watched through the surface of the water, she saw Tea silently sneak up behind Yuma and pull his swimsuit up in a painful wedgie.

When Yuma screamed as the suit squished his still pained balls, the guys all started laughing. Even Tori found herself laughing at her friend's prank.

The group played in the pool for another twenty minutes before getting out to dry off. When they were all dried off, they headed back to the house to get ready for dinner. The girls went to their room and helped each other get ready, both happy to finally have a girl to relate with in regards to girly stuff. The guys were somewhat used to the idea of changing in front one another, but only Arius was comfortable with it.

With another half an hour, the boys decided to have another round of Halo 4 against each other. As before, Arius was dominating the game, even on maps he never played. Soon enough, Bucksworth collected the groups of teens for dinner.

The teens were second after the grandfather, with him already sitting at his end of the table. When she was walking over to her seat, Tori found herself grabbed by Tea and brought over to the seat to Arius' left, where Noah sat. When she was about to question it, Tea gave her a wink and Arius smiled at her, unaware of Tea's actions.

Despite her fluttering gut feeling, she knew Tea's plan, but was nervous about everything in general. Taking a look at her friend when the twins walked in, Tori got a thumbs up and a saucy wink. _I hope you know what you're doing Tea. Is the push-up bra really necessary though?_

This time, Yuma knew better than to comment on his friend's breasts. When he opened his mouth, he saw Arius raise a knife in silent threat to the boy. It was almost as though he were saying: _Say one comment on her bust, and I bust your head._ Needless to say, the message was received.

When Annabelle, walked in with Maximillion, she noticed Tori staring at Arius as the twins talked with Tea about something while occasionally looking at the greenette. "Hey Ari, Tori. What's up?"

"Nothing much, sis. We finished swimming a little bit ago."

"Is that so?" She looked at the still dazed Tori. "So Tori, how was the bikini I made you? Was I right?"

The question snapped her out of it before Arius looked at her. "I loved it, Anna. Thanks, and yeah, you were right about it being much more comfortable than a one piece." When Arius was looking at her, she mouthed a quick "Thank You" to the fashion designer. Her response was a discreet nod and wink.

The dinner went off without a hitch. Their grandfather, who the guests learned was named Solomon, had requested a simple steak dinner, a choice the boys all agreed with. The meal was filled with idle chat about the day, such as Yuma claiming to have won about a dozen races in the pool only to be shot down by Bronk and Arius, to the twins talking about modifications to the family limos to make braking even smoother.

When they had all cleared their plates, the serving staff took the dishes and brought in desert. Black Forest Cake with chocolate ice cream on the side. The servings were just the right size, so everyone managed to finish.

It was when they sat and digested that trouble came up. Caswell had been relaxing when he looked at Arius. "Say Arius, where are your parents? Are they back in Domino City?" After he asked the question, everybody felt the mood drop for the four siblings.

"No, they're not," was all the response they got before Arius got up and walked out, the twins and Anna following him. Sighing, Max and Tea went after them, Max muttering to himself in concern. Just like that, the teens were left with Solomon.

A heavy sigh from the old man got their attention. "The kids' parents, my son and his wife, are both dead." Standing up, he walked over to a portrait of a blonde man and his brown haired wife.

"Maria died giving birth to the twins, and Mokuba died in a car crash three years ago after drinking his problems away. Annabelle was 20, Arius was 12, and the twins were only 7 when he died. In his will, Arius became head of KaibaCorp, and made running the company a family matter so that they were always together. Since Annabelle practically raised Noah and Seto, Arius wanted the bonds in their family to remain strong." The man sighed as he looked down from the painting. "As I recall, that's when Arius stopped being the fun loving boy he'd grown up being."

The man looked at the teenagers. "That's why I had Arius invite you all over. Because I want you all to be there for Arius. I want you all to be the ones to make Arius smile like he used to. I believe you can do it, and already are doing it."

Yuma nodded as he raised his fist. "Don't worry! We'll get him smiling! That's what friends do!"

Solomon nodded and looked at something behind Yuma. "can I assume that they're all in Arius' room, Bucksworth?"

"Indeed sir," answered the butler.

"Well, I'll leave you four to it. Please help my grandson learn to smile again." With that, Solomon gestured to Bucksworth to lead them away.

Following the butler, they arrived at the boy's room, with Maximillion and Tea outside looking very concerned. Tea looked over at her friends. "Hey, I take it you guys are here to see Arius?" Getting a nod, she sighed. "Well good luck. He managed to bum me out."

-In the Room-

Arius held his head in between his hands as Anna had an arm around her brother's shoulder. "Hey, it's alright Ari."

"Yeah," said Noah. "Sure Seto and I never really knew her, but I'm sure-"

"No you're not sure!" shouted Arius as tears streamed down his cheeks. "You two never met Mom! You never got as close to her as me and Anna did! She was an amazing mom, and I took her for granted!"

"Shut Up!" shouted Seto at the weeping teen. "You think we don't care about Mom! Even if we never knew her, we still miss her! Besides, we feel bad 'cuz we're the reason she died! Do you hate us because of that?"

"No, I don't! It's not your fault!" Arius looked down. "It was never your fault."

Annabelle hugged her brothers close. "What matters is that we're still here. Remember, as long as we still love her, she's always alive in our hearts."

A knock on the door got their attention. When it cracked open, Tori poked her head inside. "Hey, can I come in?" Getting a nod from the only girl, she carefully entered and walked over to the large bed, being careful to close the door. When the twins moved over, she sat down next to Arius. Tentatively, she reached out and rubbed his back in comfort. "Look, Caswell didn't realize he'd upset you by talking about your parents."

"Its not that," said the sulking boy. Anna tapped her youngest brothers' shoulders. Nodding towards the door, the twins and their sister walked out leaving Arius with Tori. "It's not that Caswell mentioned my parents. It's that I miss my mother and started thinking of her again."

"What do you mean?" asked Tori. "Why just your mother?"

The boy sighed. "You see, when Anna was born, Father didn't make her his little princess. Instead, she became Mom's little girl. When I was born, my father was over the moon that he had a son, but not because he now had a boy to raise. It was because he had a boy to carry on the Kaiba family name."

Tori gasped. "That's horrible!"_ How can a man like that be Arius' father?_

The sad boy clenched his fist. "It was. He put me through relentless studies, and tried getting me ready to run KaibaCorp. Most dads teach their son wood working, or how to play catch, mine got me tutors to learn advanced economics. The more he pushed me, the more Mom was there to comfort me." A sad smile spread on her lips. "She and Anna taught me Duel Monsters, how to be a gentleman, and basically taught me how to have fun. It was great, I'd have father teaching me for part of the day, and then I'd have fun with Mom and Anna. It was great until I was five. Mom was expecting the twins, and got extremely sick. When they were born, it was too much for her. With her dead, Anna practically became their Mom and grandpa took care of me." He sighed again, this time shuttering. In her concern, Tea wrapped her arms around his shoulders to comfort him. Taking a breath, he continued.

"Father hit the bottle after she died. Grandpa acted like a real father and helped me and the twins out as we grew up. When I was twelve, Father died in a drunk driving accident. He had wanted to drive himself, and wound up dying. In his will, I got to be head of KaibaCorp. I didn't want our family to get divided like with him, so I got all of us involved. I knew Anna wanted to be a designer, so I got her to be my Marketing head and even helped get her career off the ground. The twins were geniuses, so I got them electronics tutors and helped them become the heads of research. But in the end, one thing drove me forwards." He looked at Tori with a heart strung look in his eyes. "I wanted to honor Mom by following her last wish. To be a better man than father. Although, I think I went a little off track."

"No you didn't," said Tori. "I barely even know you, and it sounds to me like you're already a better person than him." She looked him right in the eye. "You, Arius are a great person. Don't let anybody say anything."

He was silent for a few minutes, but started smiling. "Thanks, Tori." He pulled her into a hug as he held her close. "You're right. Thanks."

She could just blush as the boy held her, eventually bringing herself to return the hug. "You're welcome, Arius. Glad to help."

**Author's Note: Okay, saddest thing I've ever written. I got inspiration from Seto Kaiba's back story from the cyber-world filler arch with Gosaburo. In case it's not obvious, Arius is going to wind up with Tori because in my mind, Yuma is too much of an idiot to make things work with Tori. So yeah, keep reading. This story is one of the stories I've put a ridiculous amount of effort into, so hopefully I don't wind up feeling it starts sucking. Also, you may have noticed there's a lot in terms of Tori and Tea chats, that's normal and planned. Don't worry, the focusing on her mental growth and crush on Arius is almost over. Just another chappie or two.**


	7. Chapter 7

After an apology on both Arius and the others' sides, the two groups split up to get ready for bed. In Arius' room, they were alternating in a game of Go Fish as they took their showers. In the girls' case, they took advantage of the fact Tea's tub was enormous and were helping one another with drying each other's hair.

After Yuma finished his shower, they all sat around while Arius polished the Millenium Puzzle. Caswell was asking him all sorts of questions about it, which he answered thanks to the Pharaoh, Yuma was bickering with Astral, and Bronk was looking at Arius' collection of CDs. "Hey Arius, who are these guys? Judas Priest? Tenacious D? I've never heard of any of these guys."

"Well of course not," said Noah as he and Seto walked into the room. "Arius listens to all sorts of music, most of which nobody's ever heard of."

Walking over to the case, Seto grabbed _The Pick of Destiny_ and walked over to the stereo system. "Hey bro, you up for a little Beelzeboss?"

Smirking, Arius stood up in his black pajama clad glory. "Heck yeah! Put it on!"

Clicking the track search, Seto got next to his brother as Arius stood on the bed. When the guitar intro ended, he started singing. (_Twins_, Noah_, Seto_, **Arius**)

**I AM COMPLETE!**

_Fuuuuuuuuuck!_

**Yes you are fucked. Shit out of luck. Now I'm complete and my suck!** He thrust his hips on 'suck' as he acted like Satan.

**This world will be mine, and you're first in line! You've brought me the pick and now you shall both die!**

_Waaaaaiiit! Waaaaaiiit! Waaaaaiiit you motherfucker! We challenge you to a Rock Off! Give us one chance to rock your socks off._

After a brief pause, the music started up again. **Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuck! The Demon Code prevents me, from declining a Rock Off challenge! What, are your terms? What's the catch?**

_If we win, you must take your, sorry ass back to Hell. And also, you will have to pay or rent!_

**And what if I win?**

_Then you can take Kage back to hell._

What?

_Trust me Kage, it's the only way._

What are you talking about?

_To be your little bitch!_

**Fine! Let the Rock Off begin! Hahaha!** As the instrumental solos ensued, Arius acted like he played them. **I'm the Devil, I love metal!**

**Check this riff it's fucking tasty!**

**I'm the Devil, I can do what I want! Whatever I've got, I'm gunna flaunt! There's never been a Rock Off that I've ever lost!**

**I can't wait to take to take Kage back to Hell! I'm gunna fill him with my hot demon gel! He's gunna squeal like my scarlet Pimpernel!**

_No! C'mon Kage, bring the thunder!_

There's just no way that we can win, that was a masterpiece, he rocks too hard because he's not a mortal man!

_God dammit Kage! He's gunna make you his sex slave! You gunna gargle, Mayonnaise! Unless we bust a Massive Monster Mama Jam!_

Dude, we've been through so much shit.

_Deactivated lasers, with my dick!_

_Now it's time to blow this fucker down!_

_C'mon Kage, cuz it's time to blow doors down!_

I hear you Jables, cuz it's time to blow doors down!

_Light up the stage, cuz it's time for a showdown!_

We'll bend you over, then we'll take you to brown town!

_Now we've got to blow this fucker down!_

He's gunna rape me if we do not blow doors down!

_C'MON KAGE CUZ IT'S TIME TO BLOW DOORS DOWN!_

We'll pile drive you, its time for a smack down!

_Hey Anti-Christah, Beelzeboss! We know your weakness: our Rocket Sauce! We rule the Casbah, and blow your mind, we will defeat you, for all mankind. You hold the scepter! We hold the Key! You are the Devil! We are the D!_

As the chanted "We are the D", Yuma, Caswell, and Bronk were amazed at the ridiculous music they were hearing. When they ended, Arius pointed at them.

**You guys are fuckin' lame! C'mon Kage, you're coming with me!**

The siblings stopped acting out here and fell over in laughter as Satan vowed his vengeance. When they calmed down to some extent, Arius looked at his brothers. "So, what brings you two to my room?"

Seto looked at his older brother. "We were bored, felt like stopping by. No big."

Noah picked up after that. "We originally wanted to bother Tea and Tori, but then Tea threatened to give us makeovers and put us in dresses, so we left." That last statement made Arius, Bronk, and Caswell to crack up.

Yuma looked at Arius in shock. "Why do you hit me for commenting on Tori's body and stuff, but laugh when they just admitted to wanting to annoy her?!" shouted Yuma, Astral floating in boredom.

The oldest Kaiba boy sighed, as he was so prone to do since meeting Yuma. "Because they aren't making comments on her body when she's clearly uncomfortable with her body." Leaning over, he flicked Yuma in the forehead. "You should realize the distinct difference between the two."

-With the Girls-

Tori and Tea were in the very pink room painting each other's nails while the Beatles blasted out Helter Skelter. As they did, they were chatting about their friends and the model's family. "I was serious, if the twins didn't leave, I'd have tied them up and given them makeovers."

Tori laughed. "I don't blame you!" She started giggling. "Tea, be careful," she said through fits of giggles. "My feet are wicked sensitive!"

Tea shook her head while chuckling. "Well then it's a good thing your nails just have to dry." Leaning back, she looked at her friend's green hair. "Hey Tori, do you ever let your hair out of that bun?" she asked as she prodded the bundle of hair. "Cuz I can't help but think it would help you win the heart of your extremely non-existent crush. A.K.A.- Arius."

After considering her options but remembering they were alone, she started blushing. "You really think so?" she asked. "You're not just saying that as a friend?"

The wealthy girl smiled. "Of course. I know Arius like the back of my hand. I can tell you're already catching his eye, and Anna helped you get his attention." She leaned in and surprised Tori by hugging her. "Arius is a faithful guy. I know he'd never hurt someone he cares about. And something tells me you'd be good for him."

She blushed at the praise Tea gave her. "Thanks, Tea. That means a lot." Smiling, she returned her friend's hug.

After the two separated, they changed into their pajamas and got their beds ready for when their nails dried. With a new song filling the silence, Tea started getting nervous. "Hey Tor?"

"Yeah?"

The girl looked over at Tori. "Am I a good friend? Because I just have to know your honest opinion."

Tori laughed at the question. "Of course, Tea. You're the best friend I've ever had, and it's nice to have a gal pal to hang out with." She looked at her friend in confusion. "Why do you ask?"

Tea sighed. "Because I've never really had a best friend before, let alone an actual friend. They've all been work friendships, they never mean anything. So, I don't really know how to be a good friend."

Tori smiled as she got her friend to lay down and tucked her in. "Trust me," she said, "you're a great friend. Just be yourself."

"Thanks Tor." As the green-haired girl climbed into her sleeping bag, Tea clapped her hands twice to turn off the lights. "Good night."

She got a yawn in response as well as the sound of Tori nestling into her blankets and sleeping bag. The quiet and comfort of having a new friend made Tea so comfortable she was asleep in no time at all. What Tea never noticed was the small light drifting down through the ceiling towards Tori during the night as morning drew closer. As it neared the unsuspecting girl, it split into two lights. One floated over to her bag and dissolved into her seldom used deck. The other dissolved into the sleeping Tori, causing her to hum in her sleep and start muttering about Arius.

-In the Pharaoh's Soul Room-

Arius was walking through the elaborate maze that was the soul of his Puzzle's inhabitant. As he walked, he took notice of areas which seemed destroyed or even shrouded in shadows that refused him access. He was currently in a strange room filled with giant stone slabs, each having a duel monster engraved on it. Having studied the carvings of the God Cards, he was staring at one of the Blue-Eyes and Dark Magician battling one another. "I've gotta say, these carvings are amazing. Just look at the detail," he said as he held his Blue-Eyes card to the carving.

Then he felt it. That same kind of presence he felt around Maximillion before he beat the man in their duel and took Masquerade from him. "Pharaoh!" he called out. "Can you feel that?"

The Egyptian king materialized next to his host. "Indeed," he spoke in a serious tone. "It's the feeling we got from Pegasus when he had his Number." He looked up to the shadows above them in the crypt. "That means one of the Numbers we're hunting has manifested itself nearby."

The boy nodded to his partner. "Which means we'll need to find it when morning comes. Cuz right now, it feels stationary. Just staying right where it is."

"Hello? Atem? Arius? Is anyone here?" called out a familiar voice. Sharing a look, the two willed themselves to their guest and found Astral waiting in the beginning area. "Ah. There you are. I felt energy and both of your conscious minds in here, and decided to investigate." He looked around the large room with his ever-observant gaze. "So, what manner of place is this?"

The two shared a look. "Well Astral, this is my Soul Room," explained Atem. "This place is the embodiment of my soul within the Millenium puzzle. In fact, I believe Arius has a room here, much like Yugi did when I worked with him."

Arius took a quick look at the Pharaoh, making a quick note to look into having a soul room. "The Pharaoh was just showing me around. But, let's face it. Why exactly you here, Astral?" He fixed the specter with a hard stare. "You just weren't curious about the puzzle. What's your aim?"

Astral sighed. "Well, if you insist. Morning is approaching, and you two have been in here all night." He looked between the two. "I was concerned about you two."

Arius chuckled. "Well don't worry, Astral. We'll be right out. You go make sure Yuma and the others stay in line when we wake up." Giving a nod, Astral vanished in a white flash. The two could feel Astral's presence leaving the puzzle. "Well Pharaoh, time to go."

"Hold on, Arius." The teen looked at his ancestor's lookalike. "There's something I should give you, something I feel you would appreciate." Holding out his hand, three card-shaped lights formed in his hand. They all turned a different color. One became red, another yellow, and the final one blue. The three lights dulled until they became three cards. "These are the Egyptian God Cards. I have a feeling they'll come in hand."

Amazed at the gifts he was receiving, Arius took the three cards with care. The Pharaoh continued as the three images materialized on the cards. "The red one is Slifer the Sky Dragon, Yugi's God card. The blue one is Seto's, Obelisk the Tormentor. And the final belonged to Marik Ishtar, the Winged Dragon of Ra."

Arius stared at the cards. "Pharaoh, these cards...I can't accept them. They're too valuable! If they fell into the wrong hands..." he trailed off in unspoken concern.

Atem shook his head. "It's my decision whether or not to give you these. Besides, they're similar to Yuma's Numbers. Only you can use them because of me, but these cannot be taken if we lose." The ghostly forms of the Divine-Beasts appeared around him. "They answer to you now. You are their master. You, are the new Yugi."

After saying this, the world started dissolving around them. The monsters vanished as the dark void surrounded the teen.

-In the Real World-

Opening his eyes, Arius was greeted by Yuma and Bronk throwing pillows back and forth while Caswell tried being the diplomat between the two. Sitting up, Arius raised a hand to signal a cease fire, which resulted after Yuma's pillow hit him in the face. Lowering his arm, the teen sent a glare towards Yuma. "So," he said, "would anyone care to explain why I woke up with my room as a war-zone?"

Yuma stomped forward. "Yeah, I'm getting payback on Bronk drawing on my face!" he said as he pointed to the black doodles and mustache drawn on his face.

"You had it coming!" shouted Bronk to his friend.

"Enough!" said Arius. "I don't approve of you two fighting in my room while I'm here, especially when I'm asleep." Getting out of his sleeping bag, Arius stretched after he stood up. "Now, Yuma, go wash your face. You look like an absolute idiot. Bronk, fix my room."

As the two went about it, a rhythmic four knocks sounded on Arius' door. "Come in!" he called.

Opening the door, Tea and Tori walked in. Tea was in her large white shirt and gym shorts, and Tori was in pink fleece pajamas. "Hey, cuz. What's up?" asked Tea.

"Nothing much," said the boy. "Just finished ending a pillow war between Yuma and Bronk." As he fixed his sleeping bag, Tori walked over to him ever so quietly. When he stood up, she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into his back.

"Morning Arius," she said as she held him close. "Aren't you glad to see me?"

The boy blushed at her forwardness as Tea gawked at her friend's behavior. "Um yeah. It's great to see you too, Tori. Ummm...Just wondering, but are you feeling alright?"

She giggled like a school girl. "Yeah, why wouldn't I? I'm especially glad you're here." She held the boy close, and Arius felt that same power. Tori was that Number they felt last night.

Before he could say anything, more knocking came from the door. Tea walked over and opened the door. Bucksworth was waiting there with five other staff members. They each had carts with breakfast foods on them. "Breakfast is served, Master Arius." Thanking the butler, Arius wormed his way out of Tori's arms and helped guide the serving staff into the room. Each cart had fruits, waffles, pancakes, and so forth. The last cart carried utensils, plates, and cups. Bowing, the head of staff took his leave of the room.

With the last of the serving staff gone, Arius gave his friends a crooked grin. "Well, let's dig in!" Getting affirmative cheers, the group all started picking food and filling their plates. Soon enough, the group of teenagers was eating their breakfasts as they all sat on the mattresses. Tori was sitting right next to Arius and was trying to get Arius to feed her and vice versa. _Seriously! This is getting ridiculous!_

-Twenty Minutes Later-

"Boy, am I stuffed," said Yuma as they got dressed. "I gotta say, Arius. Those chefs of yours really know how to cook!"

"They sure do," said the teen as he slipped on a white and black jacket. "If they weren't such great chefs, we wouldn't have hired them." After putting on the Puzzle and feeling the Pharaoh's comforting presence, he looked at his friends. "Hey, is Tori usually that...clingy?" asked the boy.

Caswell shook his head. "Tori's never acts this forward or open about something like a crush. So, in the end, I think she's really trying to get your heart."

Astral looked over to the Kaiba boy. "Perhaps a Number is involved. They do amplify a person's darkest and strongest desires." He put an ethereal hand to his chin. "So, if Tori is acting more... seductive... towards you, it's possible a Number is involved."

-Tea's Room-

"Are you feeling alright, Tori?" asked Tea as she helped her friend get dressed. "You're acting a lot more forward with Arius about your crush on him."

Tori gave her friend a smile. "Yeah!" she said in an upbeat tone. "I feel just fine. There's something making me feel a lot more open about my feelings for Arius." She paused for a moment in thought. "It's weird. I felt this great once I woke up." She shrugged. "Oh well!" Walking over to her bag, Tori pulled out a blue belt with a soft yellow deck case. Clipping it around her waist, she sat down at the vanity. Undoing her hair bun, Tori started brushing out the hair, letting it fall down and freely, a set of curls forming from being tied up.

"You don't say. Well," Tea said, "it looks like my advice kinda worked."

"Yeah!" said Tori. "You helped give me a major confidence boost. And this morning, I just felt so... in love." Sighing, she put down the hairbrush and grabbed her friend. "Let's go! I feel like Yuma does about dueling! What is it he says?" She paused in thought before she remembered. "Oh yeah! I'm feeling the Flow!"

A knock came on the door. "Hey girls!" called Arius. "We're heading to the media room. Join us when you're ready."

Tori jumped up, her eyes lighting up. "Let's go Tea! C'mon!"

Throughout the day, the group of friends took advantage of having a pair of millionaires in the group. Arius' media room was akin to a small arcade, and the screening room had them all gaping. One thing kept Arius and Yuma on their guard, though: Tori's behavior. She was extremely clingy with Arius and made many attempts at some type of seduction.

Soon enough, dinner was in two hours and Arius was fed up with her romantic obsessions. "Alright Tori, that's it. I challenge you to a duel!"

The girl's eyes lit up in surprise. "Really? Well, what do you say we make this more interesting. If I win, you have to become my boyfriend. If you win, I'll be a lot less forward and pushy."

Not seeing many options, the boy nodded. "I accept your challenge." Taking the lead, Arius brought them to the empty entry hall around the corner. Upon arriving, two staff members were waiting for the two with a pink duel pad and Arius' duel disk. Accepting the devices, everyone put on their duel gazers and activated the AR system.

_Arius, _said the Pharaoh. _I'd like to handle this. Besides, Tori knows our strategies. Perhaps now we can use your new deck._

Nodding, Arius felt the energy from the puzzle surge through him. **YU-GI-OH!** After the light faded, the older version of Arius slid the deck into the dragon mouth. "Alright, it's time to Duel!"

The two faced off, with Arius taking the first draw. "I start by activating the Field Spell Chaos Zone!" Opening the slot on the end of his Duel Disk, he slid the card in as the area turned into a large blue void. "Now, each time a monster is removed from play, I gain one Chaos Counter to use at a later date!" explained the boy. "Now, I summon my Summoner Monk in defense mode!" The purple robed man appeared on the field. "And I activate his ability and send one spell from my hand to the graveyard to summon a level four monster from my deck. And I choose Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress!" The white robed woman glowed into existence with her gold wand in hand. "I now set one face down and end my turn! And, because of Lyla's ability, I send the top three cards of my deck to the Graveyard at the end of my turn." As he did, a strange white and black dragon appeared. "Oh, and it seems one of them was Eclipse Wyvern! So, I can banish one level seven or higher light or dark dragon from my deck!" As the image faded, a small light formed and became a small vortex floating around Arius' side of the field. "And with a Chaos Counter, I truly end my turn."

Tori drew a card from the light pink duel disk. "I start by summoning my Star Seraph Scout!" Placing the monster card down, the bird like fairy monster appeared. "And because I normal summoned him, I can special another Star Seraph monster from my hand! So I summon my Star Seraph Sage, and use his ability to send a spell to the graveyard and get to summon another Star Seraph. Come on out Scout!" A second scout appeared with a light blue version of a Scout with folded wings. She then smirked. "Now get ready, because I Overlay Level Four to construct the Overlay Network!" A large starry vortex appeared overhead as the three yellow lights spiraled upwards into the nebula shape. "I Xyz-Summon Number 102: Star Seraph Sentry!" The vortex released a pillar of light that struck the ground in front of her. The large pyramid descended and promptly transformed into the golden angel-like creature. In response, a glowing 102 appeared over Tori's heart.

Her grin became much more seductive in appearance. "You know Arius, I wouldn't blame you if you surrendered. In fact, if you do just that I'll let you go down on me on our first date." She batted her eyes and puckered her lips to blow a kiss.

The Pharaoh-duelist hybrid looked even more serious but cracked a grin. "As tempting as that sounds, Tori, I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I'd hold off on that till at least our fourth month anniversary."

The others looked at him in shock. "Did he seriously just say that?!" screamed Yuma. "How can he make that kind of comment but I get beaten for commenting on her boobs?!"

In answer, Tea raised her leg backwards so the heel of her shoe connected with his balls. Gasping, he fell over clutching his berries. Down below, Arius smirked at his friend's display. "My move?" he asked.

She smiled sweetly. "Not even close, baby! I now attack your Sorcerer with my Sentry!" The creature pulled its arm back, forming a full body bow and arrow made entirely of light. Releasing its arrow, it destroyed the robed man. "Now, I end my turn."

Growling, Arius drew a card from his deck. _Not bad,_ he thought when he saw it. "I banish two monsters in my graveyard, one light and one dark, to special summon one of my dragons. I choose Eclipse Wyvern and Summoner Monk. And by banishing them, I special summon my Darkflare Dragon!" A circle of orange fire spun around and gave rise to the large black Dragon. At the same time, two new vortexes appeared. "And because my Eclipse Wyvern was banished from the Graveyard, I can add the dragon banished by its effect to my hand." The card flew to his hand and he quickly selected a second card in his hand. "However, it's not staying for long, because by sending it and this other monster to the graveyard, I can summon out of my graveyard: Lightpulsar Dragon!" Three large circles materialized and created an orb of light. After a light blue light, it became the large white and light blue dragon.

"Amazing," said Astral. "A pair of dragons designed to be opposites of one another. What an interesting combination. It's an extremely calculated Yin Yang duo."

Arius smirked as the puzzle glowed. "However, none of my three monsters are staying, because I'm sacrificing all three of them!" The two dragons and sorceress began dissolving and condensed into a large orb. "Behold true power! I call upon the power of the Egyptian Gods!" The orb glowed a radiant blue light. "Arise, Obelisk the Tormentor!" The light exploded to reveal the massive blue titan. It loomed overhead as it appeared to smash the ceiling through the AR system.

Everyone but Arius was amazed. "What the heck kinda monster is that?!" shouted Yuma.

"I don't know, man!" replied Bronk. "4000 attack points?! That's one hell of a monster!"

If anything, Astral was amazed at the card. "I don't believe it! How did Arius get his hands on an Egyptian God Card?!"

"An Egyptian God Card? What's that Astral?" asked Yuma as he fixed the spirit a confused look.

"The Egyptian God Cards are three Duel Monsters of untold power. Only one copy of each exists, and it is said they were hidden to prevent their power from falling into the wrong hands," explained Astral. The blue being looked towards the duel. "If Arius has Obelisk, I can't help but wonder if the other two are in his possession, and what other ancient powers he has in his decks."

"Well guess what, sweet heart?" shouted Tori. "I activate my Sentry's ability and remove one overlay unit to-"

"Let me stop you there," said the brown haired duelist. "You see, when a God Card is summoned, card effects can't be activated. So, whatever you were going to do is irrelevant!" The girl growled. "Now, I activate my Trap Card, Interdimensional Matter Transporter! With this, I can remove one monster from play until the end phase, and guess who I pick?"

He then swung his arm at Star Seraph Sentry. "Go Transporter! Get 102 out of my way!" Glowing, the orb on top of the device struck the Fairy type Number and removed it from the field. Arius looked at Tori with a serious looking smirk. "You know, if you want to surrender, I'd totally understand your decision."

She growled in answer. "Go ahead, hit me with your best shot sweetie! You clearly don't seem to care about my feelings."

He sighed. "That's not it at all, Tori. I do care, which is why I have to do this." He looked up, a new fire and determination burning in his eyes. "Go now, Obelisk! Lay waste to Tori's life points!" Letting out a mighty roar, the Divine-Beast launched its fist towards the monsterless girl. Upon connection, the force sent her flying backwards.

As the Duel Gazers declared Arius the winner, he raised his arm with the eye appearing on his forehead. As with Maximillion, the card raised up and flew over to him while the glowing number on her face dissolved. When it touched his hand, a new rush of memory assaulted him.

_As Yugi stood with Tea, he pulled her close and kissed her. Parting, the two looked into the other's eyes. "I love you, Tea."_

_She leaned into him. "I love you too, Yugi."_

_-Flash forward- _

_Jaden was being stared down by the blonde girl in front of him. "Well?" demanded Alexis. "Care to explain why you tried ruining my blind date with Syrus?"_

_He felt heat rise to his cheeks. "Because, I... I... I really like you Alexis!" he shouted. "And it's not just like. It feels like... Love."_

_-Flash Forward-_

_"Akiza!" shouted Yusei as the girl tried sneaking away. "Where are you going?"_

_"I'm leaving, Yusei," said the red haired girl. "After all I've done, I'm not worthy of your friendship. I'm better off alone."_

_"No you're not." He walked up to her and pulled her close. "Don't tell anyone I'm this soft, but I would miss you, Akiza. I couldn't handle you leaving me."_

_She was shocked and breathless. "Yusei..."_

-Real Life-

Arius staggered at the three memories that he gained. "Pharaoh, who were those guys?" asked the boy. "The first was Yugi, but what about those other two?"

_I'll tell you later,_ said the spirit. _For now, you have a friend to check on._ Realizing how right his partner was, Arius ran over to the collapsed girl.

"Tori!" getting on his knees, he lifted her up into a sort of cradling. "Are you alright? Say something!"

She groaned. Opening her eyes, she blushed at how close Arius was. Remembering everything that just happened, she wrapped her arms around Arius' neck. "Arius, I'm so sorry for everything I did. I wasn't myself and said all those terrible lies and delusions." Holding him closer, she started again. "None of it was me."

Arius chuckled to everyone's confusion. "Tori, you clearly don't know a thing about Number Cards." Pulling back, he gave her a knowing smirk. "When a Number takes over its owner, the owner's deepest, darkest, or strongest desires are amplified and acted upon. In other words," he put a hand to her blushing cheek, "you just lied to my face and expected me to believe that what you said during the duel had no basis." Grinning, he pulled her in and gave her a kiss on the lips, pouring his feelings for her into it.

When he pulled back, her face was almost completely red. Her eyes were wide open in shock. "Arius," she stuttered. "Wha- what was that for?" she stuttered.

He smiled back as he picked her up bridal style. "You didn't think your feelings were one-sided, did you?" He held her close and kissed her head. "You are a great girl, and quite frankly, I kinda figured out you and Tea's plan since you don't seem to be the type of girl to be so eye-catching in terms of your clothes."

The sight of the new couple made Tea squeal with joy and Bronk clap his rich friend on the back. Caswell was congratulating the two, and Yuma was in shock at Arius' advances on Tori and him not getting smacked over his actions.

Noting all the varying reactions, Astral made a note to himself. "Observation: Human relationships are intricate ordeals with various results and reactions."

A polite cough got their attention. When they all looked, Anna and Maximillion were standing there watching, Anna in amusement. Turning around, Tori still in his arms, Arius sent his sister a smirk. "Hey sis, what's up?"

Chuckling, she shook her head. "Nothing much, what about you?"

Looking down at the blushing girl with her arms around his neck, he looked back up at his sister. "I saved Tori from a Number Card, and wound up getting a girlfriend."

She nodded in amusement. "That's great." Her grin turned into a full smile. "Aww! I can't help it anymore!" Running forward she carefully hugged her brother so she didn't crush Tori. "How cute! Little Ari finally has a girlfriend! And his friend no less!"

He shook his head. "Tell me about it!" As they all laughed, Tori grabbed his face and pulled him in for a kiss. Feeling bold, she even went so far as to slip her tongue in. When they pulled apart she sighed as she rested her head on his chest while he held her close.

**Author's Note: Please know that during this story, a lot of the Memories obtained from the Pharaoh's Numbers are going to be BS ones of my own. I plan on including actual scenes, but it's all relative to that person's desire.**


End file.
